Culture Shock
by SepatownSon
Summary: Jor-El and Lara are discovered to be alive and well. With the help of their son, they must learn to integrate into the bright and diverse culture of Earth from the cold and sterile Krypton. Clark/Diana, Jor/Lara.
1. Chapter 1

**Smallville, Kansas**

**1980 **

"Oh my god Jonathan! Wake up! I think it's an earthquake!" Martha was terrified, she wasn't exactly sure if it was an earthquake or not. "Jonathan!"

She hadn't exactly experienced one before, but the entire house was shaking. She reached for the lamp by the bedside but it and the table had shaken away from the bed eventually crashing to the floor.

The crashing sound jolted Jonathan up finally, that and Martha's thrashing about in the bed. The room was dark, and the easily accessible light was broken. He'd have to cross the room to switch on the overhead light but he was too afraid to move. "What's happening?"

Suddenly the pitch black room was filled with a bright blue light coming in from the back window. Martha just had to know what it was, and she got up from the bed and carefully made her way to open the window shades.

"Oh my god!" Something had just crashed and cut a trench in the ground about 100 yards from the house.

"Was that a plane crash?!" Jonathan asked once the quaking had stopped. He could see what was happening over Martha's shoulder.

"I think so. We should go help, maybe someone is still alive." Martha threw on a pair of her overalls and her work boots and ran downstairs. Jonathan followed, but before he left he grabbed his trusty Mossberg 500 from under the bed and checked the chamber, just in case.

He followed Martha outside and immediately saw that this was no ordinary plane. It wasn't big enough to be that, it was the size of a large pickup truck, maybe a little bigger, with an oblong shape. They avoided the fiery path cut in the ground but kept walking towards it, the closer they got the stranger it looked. Maybe it was something experimental from the military, but it looked far too strange to be. It didn't look foreign either, it was just… weird.

"Where are the wings?" Jonathan asked.

"Could it be a satellite maybe?" Martha wondered.

Suddenly a blue light flashed quickly like a strobe light, temporarily blinding both of them. When their eyesight came back they watched part of the the crashed object begin to open. Jonathan backed up.

"Jon, give me the shotgun!" Martha demanded, she was always a better shot than him. She wasn't sure how she'd do while frightened as she was now but figured she'd do better than him. Jonathan gave up the gun, knowing that his wife was a slightly better shot than he was. Also he knew she'd protect him like no other.

It looked like sliding double doors opened on the object, Jonathan and Martha slowly approached it. Martha had the her thumb on the Mossberg's tang mounted safety and had the gun at the low ready, if anything attacked them she would be ready.

Jonathan slowly approached the foreign vehicle, and was about to look inside when something sprang out from the opening over his head and into the air, he ducked and jumped back. Martha was on the case, she could turn clay pigeons into powder as well as anyone in the county and had a mantle full of trophies to prove it. This was no different, even in these low light conditions she hit the glowing white orb dead center. It fell to the ground and stopped glowing.

"Whoa!" The sound of the shotgun caught Jonathan off guard even more than the floating orb. He put his hands over his ears in an attempt to lessen the ringing in them, he looked over and saw that his wife was doing the same thing.

"Are you okay?" Martha shouted.

"What?" He could tell she was saying something, but couldn't tell what.

"What?" She couldn't hear him either.

After a minute things became normal again, and there was a sound that overshadowed all else. A crying baby!

Martha dropped the shotgun and ran towards the sound, Jonathan followed. "Wait! Wait!"

But she was already gone, she'd jumped up on the machine and looked inside, finding the answer to her prayers. A tiny baby, all she needed was a look and she was completely taken. She reached inside and lifted him up, along with the blanket that he'd kicked away from him.

"Oh little one you must be freezing!" She picked him up and noticed that body temperature wise he wasn't cold at all. But he was still crying. "I'm so sorry about that loud noise, I didn't know we'd find you here. Where did you come from?"

Jonathan was frozen in place, what the hell was going on? A satellite or something, falls from the sky with a baby in it? It took him several seconds to find his voice. "Martha what the hell is going on? Don't do that, you don't know what that is. That could be anything!"

"Jonathan look how tiny he is, he's just a newborn, and he needs us. We can't leave him alone."

"A newborn that just crashed in a space ship!"

Jonathan saw the look on his wife's face and knew that he was going to lose this argument. After two miscarriages and one stillbirth Martha had prayed and prayed for a child, and in her mind this was it. The answer to her prayers, an angel sent from the heavens, he couldn't exactly blame her. He wanted those children too, and figured they'd adopt like other couples in their situation, but this was something else.

"Look. I found him, and I'm going to keep him." Martha declared.

"Somebody's going to come looking for him, you know this, I know this. I don't know if this is a spaceship or what, but you know that this won't be hidden for long." He came up behind her and gently touched her shoulder.

The baby stopped crying after a few minutes of Martha's gentle swaying. "I know. I know. But right now I need this."

* * *

They waited and waited, but no one came. No one else in town seemed to even have noticed the earthquake or had seen any flashing lights. There were no government agents or NASA officials at their door, there hadn't been any indication that the ship had been seen by anyone else at all. Jonathan simply used his truck to drag the ship into the barn and eventually stored it under the floorboards. He took the orb Martha had shot and tossed it into the ship, never giving it a second thought.

Clark Jonathan Kent was the name they gave him, it didn't matter he was an alien from another world, he was their son and they were his parents.

* * *

**Fortress of Solitude**

**2014**

Diana of Themyscira padded through the Fortress of Solitude on a mission. She wasn't exactly sure what she was looking for but would know when she found it. Today was she and Clark's unofficial anniversary. Unofficial because they weren't married, but worth recognizing because it was four years to the day they'd became a couple. She was going to do something a little out of the ordinary for him today.

She had seen a movie the other night where a woman washed a car wearing skimpy clothes and all the guys around went crazy over her. She had been planning something of the sort for Clark, but since they didn't own a car she needed an alternative. So she'd been wandering the fortress for the last hour or so looking for something to cover in suds and give Clark a show.

The more time went on the more she worried she'd have to find some other way to treat him, he would be home from work soon. It had been four years, so regular sex wasn't going to cut it anymore for a special occasion. She needed something to build up the excitement, make things a little bit fun. But what?

She wondered how people who had been together for even longer did things. Like Clark's parents, who had been married for almost 40 years now. Did they even care about that stuff? She and Clark weren't officially married, but may as well have been, they'd lived together for two years now and had completely altered their lives in order to be together. Diana took on a human facade of Diana Prince, the live in, free spirited, artist girlfriend of Clark Kent and he took on a more prominent role as Superman. Stepping into the public life with her much more than he ever had in the past. They had it all, they were the Ultimate Power Couple to the world, and just regular people in private. In her eyes, they were together for life.

Then it came to her, maybe she could wash down Clark's ship. It hadn't moved since he brought it here from underneath his parent's barn, which had been maybe 14 years ago. Since she'd known him he barely even paid attention to it. She raced to the chamber it was held in and considered the option. How sentimental was he over this thing? It was the ship that carried him to Earth, brought him to his home and into the lives of the people who loved him. Would he really be okay with his girlfriend getting naked, covering it with suds and sliding all over it?

The more she thought about it, the less she liked that idea. It just didn't feel right to use an object that had been so key to his life for cheap sex. But before she left the room, she decided to open it up and take a look inside. She reached in and touched the cloth padding and examined everything closely. In the end she felt sentimental about this ship even if he didn't, as it brought her love to this world and ultimately into her life. She was about to leave when she noticed an orb sitting in the corner of the ship. She'd seen it before, but never paid it any mind and she couldn't recall Clark paying much attention to it either.

She did know that whatever it was, it didn't work. Just about everything in this place lit up whenever Clark touched it, and these days had been rigged to light up when she touched them as well. But this one stayed dark, in fact it looked damaged. It looked like birdshot pellets were lodged in the side for some reason, which seemed incredibly odd. Diana found herself absently picking the pellets out of the orb before realizing that she needed to get busy on her surprise for Clark. She tossed the orb back into the ship and took off for Metropolis, not even bothering to close the doors on the ship.

She hadn't realized it, but she'd picked all the pellets out of the orb and it began to faintly light up.

* * *

After finishing up his work at the Daily Planet, Clark picked up a bouquet of flowers and headed back to his apartment. Where he found a note from Diana asking him to meet her at the Fortress. He now found himself following a trail of rose petals from the entrance to their bedroom.

Since this wasn't an official anniversary he wasn't quite sure what he should do. The last two years they just had a candlelight dinner and some romantic times alone. But that wasn't completely out of the ordinary anyway. Diana never had been huge on special events like this anyway so he hoped flowers would do the job. He assumed the rose petals were leading him to a not so elaborate evening she had planned.

"Welcome home honey. Why don't you have a seat?" Diana called. Tonight would be a bit more vanilla than she'd originally planned, but she supposed Clark wouldn't care that much anyway.

Clark couldn't exactly see her, he could make out only her silhouette but based on the layout of the room she was standing at the foot of the bed. There was a bright light directly behind her which kept her bathed in shadow. She had her hands on her hips and was swaying them back and forth slowly. He spied a lone chair a few feet from her so he sat in it as she requested.

"Why don't you loosen your tie? Relax a little." She asked seductively.

Clark did as she asked again. "So how was your day?"

Diana rocked her hips a little harder. "Nothing out of the ordinary, meetings, disasters. Just a regular Thursday."

Clark wondered what the disaster was, but before he could ask the lights came on fully in the room and revealed that Diana was standing in her Amazon armor. She looked ready for a fight except for the high heels on her red boots. She almost never wore those, and never in battle. She wore them for him.

She walked up to stand over him, straddling his legs as he sat in the chair. "Kelex, begin playlist."

Soft music began playing in the room, it took Clark a few seconds to pick out the song but eventually it became clear that 'Anniversary' by Tony Toni Tone was playing. He was glad he decided to pick up the bouquet, he wasn't sure if Diana was going to make a big deal out of today, but it appeared she was.

Clark would probably never get over how flawlessly beautiful Diana was, she was his ultimate fantasy. He'd known and dated some lovely women in his life, but Diana excelled them all by leaps and bounds, and when she turned on her romantic side she went to another stratosphere altogether. Despite the fact that he was currently getting a lap dance, her dance moves weren't particularly suggestive, and she was fully clothed he was still mesmerized by her.

Diana tried not to laugh at the look on Clark's face, his eyes wide open unmoving from her body and his expression looking like a mindless drone. He was under her spell, and she loved every minute of it. She could probably get him to do anything she wanted as long as he got the pleasure he seeked. She hadn't used her wiles to make him do anything too undesirable yet, and figured to save that possibility for a rainy day.

Clark reached up and put a hand on Diana's backside as she swayed, but immediately she slapped his hand away, hard. "No touching!"

"Oh it's like that?" Clark groaned.

"Oh it's like that." Diana confirmed, reaching for the lasso on her hip. "I will tie you up if I have to. Consider it a challenge, can you keep your hands to yourself?"

Clark considered his options, being tied up had never been a bad thing with Diana. So he risked it, he scooped her up and dove onto the bed.

* * *

Some hours later Diana rolled out the sleeping Clark's embrace and untangled herself from the golden lasso that they found themselves wrapped in, and got out of bed. It was the middle of the night but she was hungry, and Clark would be soon, so after picking up his cape and wrapping herself in it she made her way to the kitchen to fix some sandwiches. She'd have one for herself and make one that Clark could eat later. Nothing fancy, just ham and cheese but she was sure he'd love it anyway. She was reaching for the croissants when she noticed a hologram of Jor-El and Lara standing behind the kitchen counter.

She looked at them and frowned, she hadn't turned one on nor did she recall Clark doing so either. "Kelex, hologram off."

Only the hologram didn't turn off, in fact Jor-El and Lara looked at her with befuddled looks on their faces.

"_Kelex hologram off!"_ Diana repeated forcefully, this time speaking Kryptonian.

Lara looked at her husband and spoke in proper Kryptonian. "_Jor, who is this woman?"_

"_I do not know." _He responded, just as confused as Lara was.

Diana almost fell backwards, she was under the impression that Clark had shown her every hologram of Jor-El and Lara countless times. Not once had they ever said that, it was as if they were speaking to her, which made no sense. They'd only spoken directly to Clark.

_"Woman, who are you? What are you doing in our home?" _ Lara asked.

Diana was speechless, it became painfully obvious that this was no hologram. It was either a dream or this was real. So she did the only thing that she could do in this situation. "CLARK! Clark get up now!"

Clark instantly heard the fear in Diana's voice, a rare occurrence for her so he sprang into action. Within milliseconds he was out of bed and in his Superman suit and in the kitchen. He found Diana backing away from two people who looked quite familiar.

"_Kal?" _The woman said, looking at him as if he'd seen a ghost. Her eyes moved from the S on his chest, back to his face.

Clark was confused and stepped back himself, he was looking at his parents, but not the parents from any recording he had ever seen.

"_You wear my symbol, but I do not recognize you. Identify yourself." _Jor-El stated firmly.

"_My name is Kal-El… I don't understand, what is this?" _He didn't really know what to say, there had only been a handful of holograms featuring his parents, usually they relayed their message and automatically shut off, but these seemed confused as he was.

"_How can you be Kal?"_ Lara looked back and forth at her husband and the man claiming to be her son. They looked so much alike, and if she looked closely she saw a resemblance to her father as well. "_Kal is my son, but he is just a baby."_

Diana watched as the three of them fell into an awkward silence as they just examined each other, none knew what to do. Clark's emotions were running the gauntlet right now, but it seemed Jor-El and Lara while confused, had a cold and emotionless demeanor. Every second that passed told her that this wasn't a dream, this was very real.

When Clark got his wits about him he used his x-ray vision to scan the people who appeared to be his parents. They certainly weren't holograms, they had muscle and bone and organs that appeared to be exactly like his own. Looking deeper, he scanned their DNA. If Diana hadn't been standing behind him with her hands on his shoulders he surely would have fallen.

Jor-El and Lara were here, in the flesh, alive and well.


	2. Chapter 2

Diana instantly noticed the sick look on Clark's face, and the fact that he leaned into her for strength, she was basically holding him up. "Clark what's going on?" She asked in English.

"They're alive, I don't know how, but these are them. Jor-El and Lara, my parents." He answered, still in total shock.

Jor-El and Lara looked at each other, they couldn't understand a word he was saying, but they did hear their names. What was going on?

Clark's mind was in complete chaos, joy, fear and anger all coursed through him at the same time. His biological parents were alive, he'd dreamed of meeting them face to face his entire life. He was overjoyed at the possibility of getting to know them now, after decades of thinking they were dead.

He was also afraid, he'd found other survivors of Krypton, some of which claimed to be his friends, but every scenario had turned bad, they were all disgusted by his human life and in the end turned against it and him. All in all he locked six people in the Phantom Zone, and was forced to kill one. He really didn't want to do that with his parents. He was angry because if they'd been alive all this time where had they been?

_"Are we on Krypton?" _Lara asked. She wasn't sure of anything at this point.

"_No. This is Earth." _Diana answered, when Clark couldn't get the words out of his mouth.

_"You were right, it worked, we arrived." _Lara said to Jor, then looked at the woman standing with her arms holding Kal. Who was she? And why was she wearing so little clothing? Her arms and feet were bare.

On Krypton, both men and women were held to strict codes of modesty. Only the skin on the hands and head were allowed to be shown. Kal held to that, but the woman did not. She wore the House of El symbol on her chest, but it appeared that was all she wore, just a cloak wrapped around herself. Not only that she was touching him, which was very out of the ordinary.

"Clark what should we do?" Diana tapped his shoulder several times. "Are you sure it's really them?"

"Yes. Positive, we need to know how." He answered.

"I'll get my lasso." Diana turned and zoomed back into the bedroom.

Jor-El and Lara were taken aback at the speed at which the other woman moved, faster than their eyes could see. Earth's sun did things to a Kryptonian's cell structure, they knew this, but was this one of those things? Could she be a Kryptonian too? How many other survivors were there?

Before they could ask anything else the woman returned, nearly as quickly as she left. Wearing some sort of skimpy outfit, bearing the colors of the House of El. She no longer wore the wrap, in fact she placed it onto Kal's back. He now wore his house's ceremonial battle armor and nobleman's cloak.

"Do you want me to do it?" Diana asked.

"No, I will." Clark took the lasso from her hands and twirled it several times before roping his parents in. He was sure these were his parents, but he needed to know what their purpose here was. He couldn't let them try to overtake the Earth, like the others did. No matter how much it hurt, he would do what he must.

Jor and Lara were pulled together tightly in a golden rope, held by Kal who had a highly distressed look on his face.

"_Who are you?"_ He asked.

"_My name is Jor-El. Son of Seyg-El and Nimda, brother of Zor and Nim. Husband of Lara and father to Kal. I was the youngest director ever assigned to the Kryptonian Science Guild, until I was removed and my house shamed." _Jor felt compelled to answer truthfully, he wasn't inclined to lie, but found even the slightest deception impossible to verbalize.

"_And you?" Clark turned to Lara, just to confirm. _

_ "I am Lara, daughter of Lor-Van and __Zulaya__. Sister of Zora. Wife of Jor and mother to Kal. I served as a commander in the Kryptonian military until my house was shamed." _

"_And my name is Kal-El, son of Jor and Lara. I'm your son. I thought you both dead, how are you here on Earth?"_

_ "How can you be my son? He was a baby, you are a man." _Lara repeated.

"Clark." Diana called in English. "Maybe you should show them the ship."

"Maybe you're right." He then turned back to his parents. _"Come with me."_

The two lassoed Kryptonians had no choice but to follow. The rope compelled them to do so, and Diana followed behind them. Their eyes lit up when they saw the craft, it was the only thing that could save their son from certain death. Lara ran her hands across the hull and spoke softly.

"_My father built this ship when he was very young. He dreamed of travelling to different worlds." _

"_It's what brought me here." Clark confirmed. "How did you get here?"_

_ "The alphahedron." _Jor noticed it sitting on the floor. "_It stored enough energy to power the entire planet. I repurposed it to carry us in the ship along with you." _

Diana noticed the orb sitting on the floor. The one that she had pulled the shotgun pellets out of, she picked it up. "_Alphahedron?_"

Clark piggybacked on Diana's question. "_We have several omegahedron orbs that power this fortress. I've never heard of an alphahedron."_

_ "That was the only one in existence. This ship wasn't large enough to carry the three of us. Your survival meant more than anything Kal. We placed you in the ship, ourselves in the alphahedron, and set the computer to send us to Earth, specifically to a place called Kansas. The orb should have opened once we arrived. It feels as though we were on Krypton only moments ago. How long has it been?" Jor-El asked._

"_About 34 years." Clark explained, watching them try to process just how long it had been. They seemed not to be able to._

Clark began removing the lasso from them, trusting them for now. _"I made it to Kansas. I was found by a couple, who adopted me and raised me as their son. They…." _He stopped mid sentence, he was going to explain how much the Kents loved him, but he couldn't for the life of him recall the Kryptonian word for love. He suddenly began to question if there was one.

It was awkward, seeing his parents here looking as young as they did. In his imagination they were always much older than their holograms, it was a little off putting that they appeared to be even younger than him. But he was overwhelmed with emotion, and couldn't help himself. He walked up between them and put his arms around their shoulders lovingly. Hugging them as a son would his parents.

Diana wiped tears of joy from her eyes. The look on Clark's face was too much for her to handle. She knew how much this meant to him, to actually meet the people who brought him into existence, to touch them. She wanted to join in too, but the surprised looks from Jor-El and Lara held her back. Neither of them were prepared for such a display of affection.

Jor struggled to break Kal's grip, if he had spent 34 years on earth it meant the sun must have made him immensely powerful. At first he was concerned he was going to injure them, but his embrace was soft, and without malice. But he was still unaccustomed to being touched like that by another person, it made him quite uncomfortable. So he wrenched himself away, out of the corner of his eye he saw Lara had done the same.

"_What are you doing?_" Lara was taken aback, no one had ever touched her like that in her entire life. They were not on Krypton anymore, such physical contact was never allowed from anyone, not even her husband.

Clark was a little taken aback, he didn't expect them to react like that. He understood Kryptonians to be somewhat cold but he didn't expect such a harsh reaction from his mother of all people. He didn't know what to do, so Diana stepped in for him.

"_It's a customary greeting here on Earth. It is the way someone would greet someone familiar, such as a parent. It's harmless." _Diana explained, walking up to Clark and hugging him.

Jor frowned and looked away from Diana, while Lara's eyes widened. "_Who are you and where are your clothes?" _

She was wearing her Amazon armor, which was probably very strange from their point of view. Diana's face was effectively blocked by Clark's head, which concealed the rolling of her eyes, not that the El's would recognize it anyway, but this wasn't what she wanted. It seemed everyone had something to say about the clothes she wore, good or bad and it annoyed her to no end. And right away Clark's mother doesn't like it, this is not the way to start off with a woman who is for all intents and purposes her mother in law.

_"My name is Diana, I am not from Krypton, as I understand it your culture had strict modesty rules, I don't. I wear what I want."_ Diana tried to be as polite as she could, but she really, really despised justifying her outfits to others.

"_Of course. I must remember this is not the home I am accustomed to. Are you Kal's wife?" _Lara tried to be as diplomatic as she could, but it was downright weird to see a man and woman touching each other like that.

Clark and Diana looked at each other, as if trying to figure out what to say. They spoke together, but had conflicting answers.

"_Yes." Clark said._

"_No." _Was Diana's response. They looked back at each other, tried to talk it out in English as Jor and Lara stared in confusion at the conflicting responses. "In case you didn't remember, we're not actually married Clark."

"Well, it's more like a common law marriage."

"I don't think that's legally binding."

"No, it's about our bond to each other more than an official title that's recognized by someone else." Clark tried to reason.

"I know, you don't have to define our relationship to me. They're the ones that need to understand. And I don't think lying to them is the right answer."

"You're right." Clark conceded, and turned back to his parents. "_We aren't married, yet. One day…. Maybe."_

"Good job sweetie." Diana said sarcastically. She wasn't opposed to marrying him, it just seemed unnecessary to her. They made a long term commitment to each other, what difference did it make if there was a piece of paper stating it or not?

Jor looked at Lara. "_We were going to have to learn the customs of this world anyway. Perhaps it is better this way, Kal can teach us." _

"_Yes. I'll teach you, if that's what you want." _Clark confirmed quickly.

"_Do you need anything? Food, rest?_" Diana decided to be a good hostess.

"_Food. I haven't eaten in hours._" Lara stated. She'd been stressing for hours over getting Kal into the ship and launching it, there was no time for food. Then it occurred to her that it hadn't been hours, it had been decades.

"_Coming right up. Follow me._" Clark strolled out and headed towards the kitchen. Actually he was hungry too.

Beef barley soup and tomato bisque were always quite plentiful in any of Clark and Diana's homes. They kept it in the fortress, their Metropolis apartment, and the 'royal suite' on Themyscira. Martha was big into canning and long term food storage, and was happy to make it in large quantities for her son and would be daughter-in-law. Diana had even learned to make it herself.

Clark heated up jars of both and served the tomato to his parents, while keeping the beef for himself. Diana finished making the sandwiches she had begun and sat down for a very uncomfortable meal.

"_That might be hot._" Clark warned as he set the bowls down. But that mattered less as Jor and Lara looked at the bowls like they'd never seen anything like them before. It occurred to Clark they may not have. He showed them by using the spoon to place the food in his mouth.

"_Did Kelex build this? Is this how all Earth buildings look?" _Jor wondered, not trying to use his spoon yet.

"_Yes, Kelex built this. Everything else on this planet is very different. This fortress is isolated from the rest of the world, it contains the library of Kryptonian knowledge._" Clark explained.

"_Then your design worked, Jor._" Lara said, she knew that the Kelex and the library was supposed to travel with them, but neither were sure if the omegahedron had saved it. Clearly it had.

Lara then dipped up some of the red liquid from her bowl and swallowed the soup, she was met with an experience like no other before. Food on Krypton was bland and largely tasteless, they were bite sized tablets which hand the sole purpose of providing nourishment for the body. So the bevy of different flavors all at once hit her palate like a grenade. It wasn't bad by any means, but it was quite unexpected. She leaned back in surprise. "_Great Rao!"_

"_Are you okay, do you feel sick? I've been eating this stuff my whole life. It should be fine for you."_ Clark didn't expect her to react like that, and immediately became concerned.

As Clark tried to get an answer from Lara, Jor tried his and found himself taken aback at the taste. He was always a bit more reserved than Lara was, but his basic reaction was similar. Diana sat back wide eyed, she was completely clueless a to what to do. This somehow seemed worse than the first time she showed her mother the big city, much worse.

"_Is all your food so flavorful?_" Lara asked, now beginning to stuff her mouth almost like a small child.

"_Most of it._" Clark said.

"_May I have more?_" Lara emptied her bowl quickly, Clark hadn't given her much to begin with.

"_Of course. You can have as much as you want._" Diana dished up more soup for her.

* * *

Clark and Diana left the El's to eat together while the stepped around the corner into another room to strategize. Diana stood close to Clark and kept her arms around him, because she was afraid he might fall over. He was trying to keep it together but it was a struggle.

Diana tried to lighten the mood. "Well, I see where you get your hearty appetite. Maybe all Kryptonians love Earth food."

"Very funny."

"Or maybe it's just mom's recipes." At Martha's insistence, Diana now called her 'Mom', and her little joke got the smile she was looking for from Clark. But he stayed silent for a few moments. "We have to integrate them into society, they can't stay here forever."

Clark stammered. "No they can't. But… how? I mean they don't even…"

"Clark if there's anybody who can do this it's you. Everything that they're going to experience, every change, ever new power and the fear that comes with it, you've already done it. These are your parents. They put everything on the line for you, you owe it to them to do the same."

"What do you think I should do first?" Clark asked.

"I think you should get them some more soup, and then teach them English."


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn't very hard to repurpose the computer that taught Clark and Diana to speak Kryptonian to teach Jor and Lara English. They were both eager to learn and began to pick it up quickly. It didn't take long to discover that Lara was the more forward of the two, every few minutes stopping the program to ask questions. Jor was much more reserved about everything. Diana had a theory for that.

"Your mother said she was in the military, she'll want clearer explanations for everything, reasoning. In her mind, decisions often have the well being of others hanging in the balance, she wants to be well informed about the consequences or her choices. I know this because I'm the same way." She explained to Clark.

He sighed. "I get that, I'm just nervous. The last time I saw members of the Kryptonian military it didn't end well."

"I know." Diana rubbed his shoulder, knowing full well he didn't want to remember. "But these are your parents, they made the choice to come here. They understood they'd have to adapt, and because of you everything will be that much easier for them. You'll get through this. It won't end up like before, this time I'm here." Diana assured.

"I don't know how well this program is going to work. This will teach them the words, but I don't think they'll understand, Mom… Lara, keeps asking questions. Which means they're not getting enough context." He didn't feel right calling Lara mom, he felt that title was reserved for Martha Kent.

"Clark, please relax." Diana said firmly this time. "Maybe you should call Lois, and have her cover for you while you're gone from work for a few days."

"Good idea. Probably Bruce too." Clark turned away, but not before Diana gave him a quick reassuring kiss on the lips.

It just so happened, that Lara turned their way to ask another question when Diana, leaned up and pressed her lips against Kal's before he walked away. Why did she do that? Didn't she know how unsanitary that was?

Then she looked to Jor who was engaged deeply in the program. Even in the short time they'd known each other she knew it was just like him to do so. He always seemed perfect in everything, always thorough with his studies and his research. Taking the painstakingly long scientific approach to everything. There were words she didn't understand that were flashing by quickly, did he understand them? Or was he too reserved to ask for help? She could never tell with him.

Kal was gone now, leaving only his woman with them. Lara elected not to ask any more questions right now, and finish the learning program. She supposed there was a possibility that her questions would be answered by the computer.

Once the learning program finished itself Jor began to pick apart the flaws in it's system. It wasn't as effective as he'd hoped, while he had an understanding of the words and their definitions he still didn't have a grasp on the language. It was the same as Kal and Diana, their speech in Kryptonian was very rudimentary, like children just learning to speak. Jor suspected that he and Lara would be the same way with English. Still he was ready to test out his newfound knowledge.

"Hello Diana, my name is Jor-El. I come from the planet Krypton. Where are you from?" Jor also wanted to know a little about her.

Diana smiled at Jor's quick learning. "I am an Amazon from the paradise island of Themyscira, descended from the Greek Pantheon."

"Is this island on earth?"

"Yes." Diana decided not to over complicate things too soon by explaining about the magic and everything.

"Where is Kal?" Lara asked.

"He's communicating with a friend. He will return shortly."

Diana was expecting them to say more, but they remained silent. They seemed completely content with the quiet, but she was feeling quite awkward. They were just looking at her, or rather looking past her. They were looking in her general direction, but not really focusing on her.

"Do you need anything?" Diana asked.

Silence.

Luckily it didn't take too long for Clark to return, because the quiet was getting a little weird for Diana.

"So we're all set. I've asked Lois to cover for me and in exchange we'll eventually tell her what's going on."

"Right, so just like always."

Clark turned back to his parents, "So I see you're finished with the program. Any questions?"

"Why are there so many words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings?"

"Oh, yeah. English is funny that way." Clark said.

"How does anyone read and understand anything?" Jor wondered.

"It takes time, some people never get it. Personally I like words, writing is my job and it's also my hobby."

"Hobby: an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure. I do not understand this." Jor stated.

"Uh." Clark tried to come up with a simple explanation, but didn't have anything right now. "That program is a little tiring. Diana and I used it to learn to speak Kryptonian, and it's hard to focus right after. After some rest I think you'll be better, let me show you to where you can sleep."

"Where are you going to take them?" Diana whispered to Clark.

"Our room. Where else?"

"Oh, let me go ahead." Without waiting for Clark to respond Diana was off.

"How can she move that fast?" Lara asked, this was the second time Diana moved faster than she could see.

"It's part of her abilities. I can move that fast too, eventually so will you."

"Really? I know that the sun on this planet will make us strong and invulnerable, but I do not know the limits." Jor stated.

"Neither do I really. The longer I'm here the stronger I get it seems. I've pretty much stopped aging, over time the few things that hurt me will lessen."

"You can be hurt?" Lara asked. Jor had said they'd be perfectly safe, and she believed him.

"Yes. Kryptonite, magic and blunt force trauma." Quickly Clark realized he was getting ahead of himself. "But don't think about that right now. You're safe here, let's just get you some rest."

Clark looked ahead through the walls and saw Diana quickly changing the sheets on the bed. He was again reminded of why he likes having her around, she thinks of things that he doesn't. Instead of walking them straight to the bedroom, he took a leisurely pace to give Diana a little more time to get things out. After all, they had celebrated their anniversary last night.

"This structure was meant to be a replica of our home on Krypton. It appears you have made changes." Jor observed.

"Oh yeah, I've expanded it quite a bit over the years. Nobody is building anything out here anytime soon so I figured I could branch out."

"I programmed Kelex to build the home in an isolated place."

"This is isolated alright." Diana walked out of the room with used bedsheets in one arm, and some lounge clothes for her and Clark in the other. "We've got all fresh linens for you, ready when you are. There are towels in the bathroom for each of you so you can shower, and some clothes on the bed for you to sleep in. They won't fit perfectly, but it'll do until we can get you something of your own."

"I think you should get a few hours of sleep. This is a lot to take in at once, some rest will do you good." Clark stated.

"I agree. Come Jor, let us rest." Lara thought he was going to protest but he didn't. She was glad at that, sometimes he just kept working and working, never giving his mind a chance to relax.

"We'll be right out here if you need anything." Diana told them.

Jor and Lara disappeared and closed the door. Leaving Clark and Diana in what was essentially the living room of the fortress. Clark took a seat on the sofa and Diana joined him.

"I'm going to cancel everything I have at the Embassy today. I think I need to be here with you." Diana could tell just by the look on Clark's face he needed her around. It was pretty early in the morning, so hopefully she wouldn't ruin anyone's schedule too badly.

"Thank you."

"Do you need anything?" Diana wondered, his face was unreadable.

"No." He smiled almost sadly and wrapped his hand around hers.

* * *

In the other room, Jor and Lara looked around, both very confused. This had been their bedroom in their home on Krypton, but it looked drastically different. Gone were the two individual sleep chambers, replaced by one large bed.

"_Is this where we're supposed to sleep?_" Jor asked.

"_It's very large, but there is only one. Do they share it?_" Lara wondered aloud.

"_It appears so. This place is very different indeed._"

"_What purpose does sharing a bed serve?"_

"_I haven't any clue._" Jor then went into the bathroom, to get an idea of how that worked. It wasn't much different than he was accustomed to, except for the shower had been modified to use either water or sound waves.

A short time later, after they had taken turns in the shower and dressing they faced the bed together. Lara was glad that Diana left a sleeping garment that left her sufficiently covered. In fact, the sweatshirt and matching pants were too big, she walked on the pant legs, and the sleeves went past her hands. She saw that Jor was equally swallowed by Kal's clothes as well.

Lara went first, she was rather anxious to get some sleep. The warm water cascading across her skin in the shower was actually quite relaxing. She'd never experienced anything quite like that before, on a whim she tried the water shower instead of the sonic waves, it felt good. So she was up to trying the bed, she just wasn't too keen on sharing it.

"_Sorry._" Lara immediately said when her elbow barely grazed Jor' arm. Other than the rare occasion of holding hands, Jor and Lara never touched each other. Which made this sleeping situation difficult. Kal and Diana touched each other freely, and it seemed that this bed encouraged more touching. Her mind wandered to the kiss Diana gave to Kal earlier, was that what they did here?

There was more tension in the air than the day they first met, and married. Lara found that her heart was pounding, which was so unlike herself. She struck up a conversation to try to calm herself.

"_Did you try the water setting on the shower?_"

Jor hadn't expected Lara to say anything. This was a very odd situation to be so close to her. "_No I did not._"

"_It was interesting, perhaps you should try it._"

"_I will._" An awkward silence fell between them, and eventually they drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Outside, Clark laid across the sofa with his head in Diana's lap talking quietly with her.

"I wonder what Mom and Dad will say." Diana said to Clark, referencing the Kents.

"I'm not sure. They'll understand though, they're still my parents. They took care of me my whole life, my bigger concern is if Jor and Lara will understand. They're so alien, they didn't even let me hug them."

"Different cultures. Remember some people here don't even shake hands." Diana reminded him as she gently ran her fingers through his hair.

"That's true."

"Are they saying anything in there? Can you hear?"

"I'm not trying to listen, but it sounds like this is the first time they've shared a bed."

"Really? But they're married. How could they not sleep together?"

"Different cultures. I put the bed into the room, there were two pod things that looked like hyperbaric chambers in the beginning. I wasn't sleeping in those."

"So no sex? That sounds miserable." Diana admitted.

"You're telling me."

"What about love and intimacy and closeness? What is the Kryptonian word for love anyway?"

"I was wondering that earlier, I'm not sure if there is one." Clark admitted.

"Wow. That sounds like a lonely society."

Silently Diana decided that if Jor and Lara didn't know the true meaning of love, She would teach them. Being in love was such a fantastic feeling, no one should be without it in some form. They El's may appear cold and uncaring, but emotion existed between them. It had to, to ship their son off to another planet to save him from certain death, there was no scientific explanation for that, they did it because they loved him. Jor and Lara may not truly understand love, or know hot to articulate or express it, but they would learn soon enough. She would make sure of that.


	4. Chapter 4

Jor and Lara didn't sleep for very long, it was just about two hours before they woke up and exited the bedroom fully dressed. Clark wasn't completely surprised they didn't sleep much, after all he didn't need a whole lot of sleep either. They were wearing Kryptonian garments again, but different than the ones they were wearing initially.

Each was wearing a skintight bodysuit that covered them from foot to neck which seemed to be the base for everything they wore. Over that Jor had what basically amounted to a blue overcoat that went down to his ankles with the red 'S' adorned on the center of his chest. While Lara wore a long sleeve dress that went all the way to the floor. Aside from the bright red, he thought it looked like a wedding dress. The sleeves and shoulders were partly made of a lace type material which showed the blue bodysuit she wore underneath. And right on her chest was a gold 'S' but smaller than the one Jor had.

"Good afternoon." Clark greeted, he was sitting in the kitchen eating a sandwich. "Wait, where did you get those clothes?"

"_From the closet_." Out of pure habit Jor answered in Kryptonian but switched back to English. "There was a piece of furniture in front of the door that I assume you placed there. It was the chest that holds your clothing. I regret to inform you but I may have damaged it."

"Closet? Behind the dresser?" Clark asked himself, "Show me?"

Jor and Lara led Clark back to the bedroom where his dresser had been moved, and had a crack across the wood most likely from Jor moving it without realizing his newly developing strength.

"Here." Jor touched a spot on the wall, that to Clark didn't look any different than the rest of the wall. But sure enough a pocket like door opened up and a rack full of clothes slid out, with about maybe 40 outfits hanging from it. Half for Lara and half for Jor.

Clark stood wide eyed, he thought he combed this room for any hidden secrets and had found none. He quickly humanized it and he and eventually Diana settled right in, but after thinking about it, he should be surprised about it. The fortress was probably full of secrets that he hadn't yet discovered. Jor and Lara would be able to teach him quite a bit about some of the technology.

"Would you look at that." Clark marveled, "I guess you learn something new every day."

Jor didn't get the sarcasm in Clark's statement, he took it literally and responded as such.

"That has always been my goal, to always progress, using the past as a guide to lead to something greater."

"Unfortunate that others did not see his vision. If it hadn't been for blindly holding onto the past Krypton may have survived. Are we the only ones left?" Lara asked from behind Clark.

He took a deep breath, not sure he was ready to speak about this. "As far as I know, yes. There are only those who have been Phantom Zone, and the few that I locked up."

"Who did you imprison? The Phantom Zone hadn't been used in years, not since we were children." Lara questioned.

"The followers of General Zod." Clark told them, then noticed the blank look on each of their faces. "You have no idea who that is do you? I thought that might be the case."

"Who was General Zod?" Lara asked, wondering why she hadn't known of a General from her military days.

"He and his followers were religious zealots, who were imprisoned for some sort of crime, he didn't tell me what. But the prison they were held in preceded the Phantom Zone, allowing them to survive the destruction of the planet. I inadvertently led them here, where we had a conflict ending in me placing the followers into the zone and being forced to kill Zod."

Jor raised an eyebrow, "It is illogical to kill the only known survivor of your race."

Clark now wished he hadn't said anything. Killing Zod was no easy task, it had taxed him mind and body, and haunted his soul ever since. Only Diana knew just how much. "I didn't have a choice, he would have killed me and everyone on this planet, I couldn't let that happen. In his eyes the people of earth saw me as a god, and any false idol or worshipper of a false idol must be destroyed."

Jor and Lara stood blankly, as if trying to process what he'd just said. Clark wondered if the language barrier was an issue. So he tried putting it another way, this time speaking Kryptonian hoping they'd understand better.

"_I am your son, which means my body is Kryptonian, but in every way that matters, I am human. I may have powers that the people of this planet don't have, but I'm still one of them and I always will be. Do you understand?_"

"Yes." Lara spoke first, then Jor. "Yes."

"What of your woman?" Lara asked.

Clark knew this conversation wasn't over, but he welcomed the change in subject matter for right now. "She's different, she's only part human."

"Descended from Greek Pantheon." Jor recalled, although he had no clue who the Greek Pantheon were.

"Uh. Yes." The Olympians were far from Gods in Clark's eyes, and most of the time Diana's too but he decided to leave that alone for now. Instead he moved on to the broken dresser that had to be weighing on the mind of whoever broke it. "So which one of broke that?"

Jor watched as Kal pointed directly at the where he had grabbed the chest and accidently broke it. "I did, although it was not intentional. The material was softer than I anticipated. It is unlike anything I have seen before, what is it?"

In the back of Clark's mind he almost wished they have denied it like they were little kids. But the seriousness of Jor's face let him know just how silly a thought that really was. "It's made of wood."

"Wood, the hard fibrous material that forms the main substance of the trunk or branches of a tree or shrub." Jor recalled the definition exactly. "Or an area of land, smaller than a forest, covered with growing trees. I suppose context explains which this is."

"Yes. All these words with multiple definitions as you learn it will become clear which one it is."

"But why would a hard fibrous material break so easily under his hand?" Lara asked.

"Because you're getting stronger. Every second that you spend on this planet you get stronger, tougher, faster."

"The yellow sun." Lara observed.

"Yes. And you haven't even been exposed to direct rays yet." Clark explained.

"What exactly will happen?" Jor asked.

"I don't know exactly, but I think your powers will manifest themselves differently than mine did. I was young when I got here, it took time for my powers to develop. The others who came were adults, and gained some power immediately, but weren't much of a match for me. Except Zod, he learned to use his powers quickly, within a few days." Clark trailed off, and he shook his head trying not to remember. "It's lunch time are you hungry?"

"I am not." Jor answered.

"Nor am I." Lara concurred. "Where is Diana?"

"She is out shopping, getting clothes for the two of you."

"We have clothes." Jor said obviously.

"Yes, but she's getting you earth clothes. So that when you leave here you can blend in a little bit." Clark turned his head slightly, hearing the mechanism of one of the entrances to the fortress. "And speaking of Diana, she has just returned."

"She has? How can you tell?" Jor wondered.

Clark tapped his ear. "I can hear her. Once you leave this fortress, you'll have to sort out a lot of different sounds at once. That might be difficult for you." Clark's super hearing was something he always had, as far as he was concerned it was normal. He could hear like everyone else, just from further away. A lot further. But for his parents, they might have trouble adjusting to the extra sounds that they didn't hear before.

"I've got clothes." Diana announced, walking into the room with both arms full of shopping bags. "Lots and lots of clothes."

Clark stared wide eyed at the sheer amount of stuff Diana had. "You do realize we have a limited budget right?"

"Of course. Being Wonder Woman has it's perks, I got a lot of it from our clothing drives. I had to guess on the size but I'm pretty sure I've got it."

As Wonder Woman, Diana was involved with numerous charitable endeavors, and since she was so closely linked with Superman, they'd become his endeavors as well. There had been situations where they'd used the clothes for visitors from other planets and such, so this was no different.

"Lara, I have a few special things for you that I'd like to show you."

"Of course." Lara was being polite, she didn't agree with Diana's fashion sense.

* * *

After sorting through everything Clark and Jor went away while Diana and Lara stayed in the bedroom, if they were dealing with clothing and such they figured it would be easier to divide by gender.

"Surely you do not expect me to dress as you do?" Lara asked.

Diana looked at herself, she was wearing a black tank top, blue jean shorts and flat sandals that made her about as close to barefoot as possible. It was warm outside (in Metropolis anyway), and while the heat didn't matter to her, she dressed as a young woman would in 90 degree weather. "You don't have to. I found you some tasteful items."

"Tasteful? Why would one eat clothing?" Lara looked at Diana like she'd gone mad.

"No." Diana laughed. "In this context tasteful means acceptable."

"Very well. Is it acceptable for someone to dress like you?"

"Of course. We dress for the weather, now if you walked outside now all you'd see is snow for miles but in the city where Clark and I live it's very warm, most of the women dress this way." Diana almost told her how the women dress, or rather don't dress on Themyscira but elected not to for now.

Lara took several trips back and forth to the bathroom trying on different outfits, some of them were perfectly acceptable others she wasn't sure of. Showing the amount of skin Diana did was definitely out, however she left herself open to potentially wearing short sleeves.

"It might help if you weren't wearing that blue jumpsuit." Diana noted.

Lara looked at herself, she was wearing only that now. "It is the basis for all clothing on Krypton. It is to be worn underneath."

"Yes I see that, but here that won't always work. We wear things under our clothing here too, only it's much less." Diana picked up a Victoria Secret bag and pulled several items out, she figured this part would be difficult.

* * *

In another room Clark was helping Jor button up a dress shirt in preparation to put on a full business suit. Jor had been uncomfortable getting rid of his blue jumpsuit, but felt better the more layers went on. Clark gave a basic explanation about when to wear suits. At work, formal functions, and places of worship, Jor had understood and accepted it. Everything felt loose, but he figured he would adjust.

"You look more human all the time." Clark smiled.

"Is this a good thing?" Jor asked.

"Yeah. I don't plan to keep you locked up here forever. But dressing like a Kryptonian, I'm not sure that's a good idea right now."

Jor wondered what that meant, he wasn't sure about the idea that he'd have to abandon who he had been his whole life but decided not to say anything for now. Kal had reasoning for what he was doing, and when it was revealed he'd make a choice either to follow Kal or do what he thought was best.

* * *

Back in the bedroom, Diana had shown Lara how to put on a bra and pantie set, and was waiting impatiently for Lara to exit the bathroom. To try to make the situation smoother Diana had gone down to her underthings as well and was sitting on the bed.

"I couldn't possibly be seen wearing this." Lara called.

"There's no one here but us. Please just let me see if you did it right." Diana was quite confident she put everything on correctly, she had ulterior motives. But she couldn't put them into action if Lara didn't leave the bathroom.

"Very well." Lara sighed, and slowly opened the door.

"Wow." Diana said softly. Lara was stunningly beautiful, with a tight curvy body and pristine skin. Diana suddenly had much more confidence about her plans.

"Did I hook the straps correctly?" Lara turned to show Diana the hooks at the back of her bra, barely getting over her discomfort with being so exposed.

"Yes you did."

"I do not like these items, at least no one is to see me like this."

Diana purposely didn't hand Lara another cover garment, in fact she was sitting on the rest of the clothes. "I wouldn't say no one. Jor might like this."

"Jor? I am mere stitches away from being naked why would Jor see me like this?"

"He's your husband isn't he? Why shouldn't he be able to see you?"

"Does Kal look upon you dressed this way?"

"All the time. He likes it." Diana said nonchalantly.

Lara simply didn't understand that, and didn't know what to say. When she first saw Diana she wore only Kal's cloak, and now she was even more confused.

"How long have you and Jor been married?"

"We have been married for 1 year 4 months 12 days." Lara backtracked, "Or rather we had been the day we sealed ourselves in the alphahedron."

"Wow. How old are you, or how old were you when you left Krypton?"

"I am 21 years old, 1 month 19 days. Jor is 21 years old, 1 month 21 days."

"Oh." That part shocked even Diana, her in laws were younger than she was. "Well, why did you marry him?"

"We were assigned to be married by the Kryptonian Registry of Citizens. Based on age, occupation, and personality traits. No Kryptonian, male or female is meant to be alone, and each is assigned a partner of the opposite gender. We may only part in death."

"An arranged marriage?" Diana shouldn't have been surprised, but she was glad that wasn't the case with her. She couldn't imagine the thought of not choosing her mate.

"Yes, the registry makes no mistakes. Where Jor is weak I am strong, and where I am weak Jor is strong. He is my mate for life, under no circumstance will I ever leave his side, nor he mine." Then Lara started thinking. "You say that you and Kal are not married, how can you be together then?"

"That's easy. We're together because we're in love with each other."

"Love. a deep romantic or sexual attachment to someone." Lara repeated the definition. "I recall the words but do not understand their meaning. We have nothing of the sort on Krypton. What is romantic and sexual?"

Diana could read that Lara's question was more scientific than born from actual curiosity, but that didn't matter at this point. Her plans were set in motion, and Lara's statement about her lifetime commitment to Jor certainly helped.

Jor and Lara have no idea what's about to hit them.


	5. Chapter 5

Diana purposely didn't let Lara put on any more clothes, and kept her engaged in conversation to try to make her more comfortable. She never expected Lara to dress like she did, and for Clark's sake hoped she never would but she should be able to do anything with Jor and not feel awkward. Any long term relationship or marriage needed some physicality to it, and quite frankly she should flaunt it to someone, Lara was hot. Also if Jor was even almost as stubborn as Clark got sometimes, he might need Lara's hotness thrown in his face to even notice it.

Lara was waiting for an answer to her question, what was romance and sexuality? Their definitions made no sense to her, as there was no cultural basis for her to understand from her upbringing.

"Romance is…" Diana struggled to describe it. "Let me put it this way. I am in love with Clark. It means that I trust him above anyone, that he knows me better than anyone else, and that I would do anything to protect his life even if it meant sacrificing mine. He can be close to me, he can touch me and share private and personal moments with me in a way that no one else can."

"Is that why there is only one bed, so that you may touch each other?" Lara asked.

"Yes that's part of it, but not all. Tell me, are there aspects to your life that you would share with Jor that you would not share with anyone else? Not even your mother or father or sister?"

"Yes. Things such as Kal, I would not have made a child with any other man."

"How does that work? How were children born on Krypton?"

"The Registry of Citizens, it carried the genetic structure of each Kryptonian, it creates a template from each parent and builds another being. Half from the female half from the male. Then the child grows from only cells into a baby in a genesis chamber. He had not even fully developed when we had to send him away."

Diana sat amazed, even after all that Lara still recognized her son instantly upon seeing him. Maternal instinct could transcend space and time it appeared. But this wasn't what she wanted to talk about, she wanted to stir the thoughts in Lara's mind about Jor.

"So why is it you would never leave Jor?"

"I cannot leave him, the law forbids it." Then Lara realized that she was no longer bound by Kryptonian law.

Diana noticed in Lara's face what she just realized. "So why won't you leave him?"

Lara stammered. "He... he knows my faults, my fears and my hopes and he accepts them. Also I am alien to this new world, no one would understand me as he could."

Diana smiled. "You and I aren't so different. I don't plan on leaving Clark, and he won't leave me but every so often we have to remind each other why. That's one of the reasons I wear the clothes I do, it makes him look, makes him want me. Because he knows I'm the most beautiful woman he's ever laid eyes on. And he often reminds me he is the most handsome man I've ever seen."

Suddenly Lara had an urge to ask something, something that was always forbidden, but had never left the back of her mind. Now that she had the chance to ask she did, nervously. "Am I beautiful?"

Diana's upbringing taught her that all women were beautiful, not only physically but in every way. Lara did not make Diana waver in her teachings one bit. "Yes, very much so and I bet Jor would notice it if given the chance. It's possible he already has."

"Is Jor handsome?"

"Well I'm biased, because he looks like Clark. So yes. But that's for you to decide."

Lara realized she never gave it much thought, she knew what Jor looked like but never bothered to ask herself if he was pleasing to her eye. Then she wondered if he thought about it with her. "How would I know if he has noticed me?"

"Have you ever caught him looking at you when he thought you weren't paying attention?"

Lara thought about it. "Not that I can recall, no. There was no reason for his eyes to linger, he is familiar with my appearance."

"Hmm." Diana smiled. "Look again, maybe you missed something. We should get dressed, the men are probably waiting for us."

* * *

Clark and Jor sat in front of Kelex, the computer system that ran the Fortress, Clark explained that he turned off the floating 'butler unit' as he called it because it annoyed Diana, since they could control Kelex from anywhere within the walls even without it.

Jor was working on something very rapidly, moving screens faster than Clark cared to read them, he probably could keep up but chose not to. "Why would anyone, a Kryptonian no less think of you as a false idol?" Jor asked.

Clark began to answer as Diana and Lara approached them. "Probably because I don't always hide my powers. Most of the time I act no different than any man born on this planet, I go to work, I pay taxes I look after my parents. But sometimes the people need protection, from natural disasters, other aliens, even each other. That's where Superman steps in."

"Superman?" Lara questioned.

"That's what they call me. When things happen in this world that can't be dealt with easily I use my extraordinary gifts to help them."

Diana cleared her throat loudly. "Just you huh?"

"No." Clark laughed, "Diana, who goes by Wonder Woman helps too. We are two of many heroes who stand together as this world's protectors. But when Zod came, only I could have stopped him. He was against me, because of the love the people had for me he believed they worshipped. He said only the almighty deserved such high praise, he didn't believe me when I said I agreed with him. That I wasn't a god. Instead he tried to kill me and destroy the earth."

"I'm searching for Zod in the database. Is Zod his given name or his family name?" Jor kept clicking away at the computer.

"I'm not sure. What about Faora Hu-Ul?" She actually said her full name in front of him, he never bothered to look her up.

Jor ran a search, but came upon a restricted file. Which was odd, he wasn't aware that there were restricted files. He'd programmed Kelex with the entire library of Krypton's knowledge it should be easily available. He sat back and sighed, to Clark and Diana it read as frustration but Lara responded without hesitation.

"Write a code to break the encryption." She knew that when Jor didn't find what he was looking for immediately he tended to shut down. Often times she was the one who picked him out of his frustration and made him keep working. It was due to her urging he went to the council countless times with his findings that Krypton was unstable.

"Yes. Thank you." Jor acknowledged her and got right to work.

Diana smiled. That little exchange gave her a little more insight into their relationship.

Seconds later Jor stood up, and away from the computer. "Kelex will work until it breaks the code. In the meantime, I'd like to see your extraordinary gifts."

* * *

Diana stood back and watched as the huge double doors opened, revealing the snowy landscape and the sun on the horizon, just beginning to set. She smiled as she watched Clark lead Jor and Lara outside. Looking every bit like the fearless leader he was, the three of them all wearing the bright S on their armor. The House of El. It was intact and as it should be, she couldn't be happier for Clark right now.

Then her mind conjured up something unexpected, a daydream that felt surprisingly real, two small children running behind them with big smiles on their faces one boy one girl. Both were wearing House of El symbols as well. Diana found herself trying to get a good look at their faces, but just as fast the vision was gone.

Diana wondered what that was about. What was her subconscious telling her? Were those her children with Clark? Or was it Clark's brother and sister? At this point both were farfetched possibilities and she decided that it was just her feeling maternal over meeting Lara. She tried to tell herself that she had daydreams like that when she was with Martha too, but deep down she wasn't sure about that. She quickly shook the thoughts from her head and joined the others.

Clark spoke while Jor and Lara listened. "I can manipulate a gravity field. It surrounds my body and allows me to fly at tremendous speeds. I can also manipulate things that are close to me."

To demonstrate, Clark picked up a handful of snow and held it out before him. Slowly, it began to rise from his hand and float several inches above it. Then he transferred it to his other hand before pushing it away far enough that he could no longer control it, which was about six or seven inches away from his hand.

Lara was the first to try it, but almost immediately upon picking up the snow she dropped it again. "It's cold." She observed.

"Oh yeah it is. Sorry." Clark could feel that it was cold, but but it didn't bother him. He didn't even consider that they might be cold. "We don't have to stay out here long."

But before he showed them back inside he lifted himself off the ground several feet, causing his cape to billow in the wind and Jor and Lara's eyes to widen. The knowledge that they would one day defy gravity as such was extraordinary.

Jor, always the scientist picked up a handful of snow and tried it himself. Ignoring the cold he tried his darndest to get it to lift up. Nothing, and after about 10 seconds he dropped the snow and rubbed his hands together to combat the freezing of his fingers. He had to know more.

"Do you trigger this power physically? With your muscles maybe. Or is it your mind that can change gravity fields?" Jor asked.

Clark came back to the ground and started walking back inside. "It's both, I think. It's as if I will myself to fly, and use precise muscle movements to control it. It took me a long time to develop it, I jumped in the air and landed on my face more times than I can count."

"Clark they're getting cold." Diana noticed when Jor wrapped his arms around himself.

"We should go back inside." Clark suggested. He noticed they were getting cold before Diana said it, he was hoping that they'd soak in a little sun out here and feel some of the power, but they were still getting acclimated. They'd been on earth less than a day, it was silly to think they'd be able to absorb solar energy as efficiently as he could. They'd have to learn a different way.

Clark could tell that Jor was disappointed that he was unable to move the snow, and noticed that he was trying very hard to control his emotion about it. He was more frustrated than when the computer locked him out of the information on Faora and Zod. He wondered why he was trying so hard to keep his composure, could it be that he was forced to on Krypton?

He was going to ask, but his ears picked up something, something that would be imperceptible to anyone without his hearing ability. Jor's stomach was growling, he had turned down more food earlier and it was catching up with him.

"I think it's time for us to eat again." Clark announced.

"That won't be necessary." Jor stubbornly said.

"We insist." Diana interjected. Just as she suspected Jor was the stubborn one, Clark got that way sometimes. Like father like son apparently.

More soup was laid out, and Jor and Lara ate quickly just as they did before. Clark and Diana hung back leaving them to eat together.

"They're like kids, except they're grown, and they're actually my parents." Clark noted. "Is this what it's like to raise children?"

Diana gave disgusted look. "Don't mention children, not now." Her daydream earlier was enough, she didn't need Clark adding to it.

"Well you should get used to somebody saying it. I think we should take them to the farm."

"Right of course." Martha always asked about marriage and grandchildren whenever Diana visited. Marriage wasn't a big deal, but Diana always laughed off the children. With her earlier daydream it might be more awkward, because she still couldn't decide who those fantasy children belonged to.

"I think that'll be a better place. It's not so cold, and I think my parents should all meet each other."

"Plus Smallville would be the best place for them to begin to see the world." Diana suggested.

"Uh, I don't know about that. Taking them to a place where EVERYONE knows me? I think people would notice that they look just like me."

"Oh, you're right. I didn't think of that. So the farm first, then we'll figure it out from there."

* * *

After eating and checking on Kelex to see if any progress had been made in finding Zod, which it had not, Jor and Lara prepared for bed.

Lara found herself less nervous about sharing the bed with Jor after her talk with Diana earlier. Now she understood the purpose for just having one, they were supposed to touch each other. But how? Diana and Kal touched each others hands and shoulders and had once pressed their lips together but what else?

She wasn't prepared to find out right now, and certainly wasn't prepared to experiment, but she did keep her eyes on Jor for an extra moment.

"_What?" He asked in his native tongue. _

"_Will you look directly at me for a moment?_"

Jor turned to face her and stared into her eyes, unsure why she'd asked him to do so. While Lara scrutinized every line of his face. "_What are you looking for?_"

"I am trying to determine if you are handsome or not_._" Lara explained in English this time, because their native language didn't have a proper way to say it.

"Handsome: good looking, attractive, often in reference to a man." Jor spouted. "Why do you seek this?"

"Curiosity." Lara kept staring, he looked like he always did and she couldn't determine anything. But then she compared him to other men she'd met in her life, such as her commanders, or other officers she'd served with. If given the choice she would much prefer to look at Jor's face than any other man. "But I have come to a conclusion, you are pleasing to my eyes, yes you are handsome."

"Fascinating." He kept his demeanor cool, but for the life of him he couldn't determine why it mattered, but instead of racking his brain he just asked. "Why do you seek such information?"

"Some of the words I did not understand. Love, romance, sexuality. Diana spoke of them as if they are highly important between Kal and herself, and she hinted at them between you and I. She suggested that we are not as different from each other as we may seem."

"Such as?"

"Our marriage, like us Kal and Diana will never leave each other and they share things that they would not with anyone else. Not only personal information but physical things such as this bed." Lara pointed to it. "They are meant to touch each other while lying together."

Jor looked down at the bed, wondering where Lara was going with this. "Does this mean you wish to touch me?"

Lara hesitated, did she? "No." Answered after a moment.

"Very well." Jor responded nonchalantly. "Should we rest now?"

"Yes." Both climbed into bed and lowered the lights. Not another word was said to each other.

But that didn't stop Jor-El from thinking. He focused his mind to remember the words, love, romance and sexuality and how they could possibly pertain to them. The problems were that their definitions all contained a form of each other word, making it difficult to make associations. So he focused on Lara's determination that he was handsome.

Based on Lara's breathing, he guessed that she was asleep so he turned to face her and when she didn't stir he proceeded to raise the lights and scrutinize her features. Was she pleasing to his eyes as he was to her? If so, what did that mean? Would they then touch each other? Did he even want to?


	6. Chapter 6

While Jor and Lara slept, Clark and Diana took the time to relax in what was the fortress equivalent of a living room. They sat on the sofa, Clark with his feet up on the coffee table and Diana with her legs across Clark's.

"We're going to need to set up a bedroom for them, I want our bed back." Diana stated.

"I agree, I'll have Kelex get to work on that in a little bit." Then Clark asked about earlier. "So what did you and Lara talk about?"

"Hmm, not a whole lot. A little bit of fashion, and a little bit of clarification of words that don't exactly translate from Kryptonian to English."

"Fashion? You're not having her dress like you are you?" Clark asked warily.

"I thought you like the way I dress."

"I do. But we're not talking about you, we're talking about my mom."

"Well, she's got to dress her age, she's 21 years old."

"Yeah, Jor told me how old they were. You have no idea how weird that is."

"Yes I do, remember my mother is several thousand years older than me, but looks like my sister."

"Yeah, but no one will dispute that she's your older sister." Clark pointed out. Diana was 28 years old, looked 21 and would forever. Hippolyta was over 2,000 years old but would never look a day over 35. "Either way, as much as I like the way you dress, Lara's not ready for that."

"Well you're in luck. She didn't want to dress like me anyway. In fact, she seemed horrified at the thought of letting Jor even see her skin."

"Yeah, face and hands. Jor didn't even want to put on a short sleeve shirt."

"Won't you at least agree, they're a little too conservative." Diana hoped Clark would give her something.

"Yes I can agree about that. They'll figure it out, they both realize that they chose to come here, and that they would have to figure it out eventually. I consider it a blessing that they don't have a newborn to deal with at the same time."

"That's good." Diana paused and became more serious. "So how are you dealing with all of this?"

"We've dealt with some weird stuff before, it seems like this should be run of the mill but it's not."

"No this isn't run of the mill, and I know you like to be perfect in all you do, but be prepared to make mistakes. Teaching them to fit in here won't always be easy, there will be some things that you won't like about it. Things that you're just going to have to put up with. Even though it will bother you to no end."

Clark was becoming concerned, why was Diana talking like this? "Like what?"

"Any number of things Clark, I'm just saying you're going to have to do some growing up."

"Yeah, I guess so. They are like children."

Diana shuddered again, "You're going to keep saying that aren't you?"

"So long as the analogy works."

"Ugh" Diana groaned. "How about this, I'll call Mom and Dad to see if they want some company, while you get a room prepared so we can have our bed back?"

"Alright." Clark swung Diana's legs off of him and headed away to get to work.

Diana checked her phone for the first time since Jor and Lara showed up. She'd missed a whole bunch of calls. Several from JL members, and quite a few from the embassy. Things get cancelled when she isn't around and while most of her business partners understood, that didn't stop things from getting hectic for a while. Since there wasn't a public crisis she had to deal with she would be inundated with questions about where she was once she returns to work. Unfortunately she didn't have a Lois who would cover for her like Clark did at the Planet, she had to be the face of her organization. But she shoved that aside for now and placed a call to her 'not quite in-laws.'

* * *

Clark on the other hand began the process of outfitting a bedroom for Jor-El and Lara's exclusive use. Which basically meant programming Kelex to do all the work for him while he sat there and watched.

Kelex was the most advanced computer system maybe in the universe, holding the entire library of Kryptonian knowledge, and constantly gathering data on Earth. But today it was 'Kelex the Builder'. First, walls were cut and drilled to expand the size of the room and add things like closets and a bathroom. Then hidden features were added, such as plumbing and such, before fixtures and furniture were essentially 3d printed before his eyes.

Had he not seen it many times over it would be an impressive sight, but Clark only kept his eyes open to make sure no mistakes were made. His mind was elsewhere. Mostly focused on what the world will make of Jor and Lara. Other than him, there wasn't a very good impression of Kryptonians, the others were bent on destroying the planet over a false accusation.

He couldn't keep them locked up forever, and wasn't sure they'd be comfortable with hiding for an indefinite amount of time. How would people respond to the fact that his parents were alive? Particularly after stating very clearly how convinced he was that there were no more survivors. To turn around with 'Oh wait, my parents are alive' would be a little jarring to say the least. Not only that but also the fact that his parents looked younger than him, that weirded even him out.

And on top of that, what would the League think? Particularly Bruce and Hal? Bruce was distrustful of just about everyone, and Hal often was often made to answer to the Guardians, who didn't like the fact that Zod killed Abin Sur on his way to Earth. In fact Hal's first assignment with the corps was to capture Superman. Hal defied them and convinced them that Superman was an ally, but could he do it again if necessary? Clark didn't always agree with the Green Lantern Corps' methods.

"I just talked to Dad, he says they'll be ready for us in the morning. Actually he sounded pretty excited to see us." Diana walked in.

"Did you tell them who was coming with us?" He turned and asked.

"No. I thought it best for you to tell them yourself." Diana walked into an embrace with him.

"Thank you." He hugged her around the waist. "Hey, about this room. Should I put in one bed, or should I give them the sleep pods they had before?"

"One bed." Diana tried her best to keep herself calm about that. She didn't want to tip her hand as to what she was trying to get Jor and Lara to see in each other quite yet. "It's what they'll find once they leave here. I think they should get used to the idea."

Diana wasn't trying to be deceitful, but she knew Clark would stand in the way of their romantic development. Because that's just the way he was. He was kind of a prude when it came to sex between anyone other than himself and her, while she was not. As far as she was concerned when it was love being made, it was a wonderful thing. She felt that Jor and Lara did love each other even without knowing it. But she needed to plant the seeds of attraction in order to really make it sink in. Diana knew Clark well enough to know that he would push back against that. That's why she didn't tell him.

"Ok." Clark stared deeply into Diana's eyes. Behind their beauty was something else, something she was keeping hidden. He knew it wasn't malicious, because Diana didn't have a malicious bone in her body, but he wondered what was going on in her brain. "One bed it is."

* * *

Jor had foregone sleeping, and accessed Kelex in the seclusion of this room while Lara slept. He accessed records of nearly every woman he'd worked with during his time in the science guild, he called up images of each and compared them to Lara. He had always been satisfied with her physical appearance, but then again he'd never compared her to another woman before. He'd never considered that he might not like her appearance. But he found time and time again, he would rather see Lara's face than the others. And as he recalled he preferred her presence over other women always.

She knew him, on a personal level, she supported his defiance of Kryptonian law and helped him to smuggle Lor-Van's old starship and outfit it to carry Kal to earth. There was no woman, no person he would rather be with. So yes, Lara was beautiful.

* * *

"I like our bed better." Diana bounced up and down a few times, as she laid next to Clark in the newly constructed room intended for Jor and Lara.

"They're exactly the same." Clark pointed out. "Just like the one in Metropolis, and on Themyscira."

"I know, but it doesn't feel the same."

"Maybe because it's not ours. Why are we talking about this anyway?"

"I don't know. I suppose they'll make it their own." Diana leaned back and closed her eyes, but seconds later her phone started buzzing from the table next to her. She answered it with a sigh. "Hello mother."

"Hello Diana, is everything well?" Hippolyta greeted.

"Yes everything is fine."

"Hmm, I was curious because you've cancelled all of your appointments the last two days."

"How did you know that?" Diana questioned. Her mother spends almost all of her time on Themyscira, how could she stay up on current events from there?

"It is not often you shirk your responsibilities for two days and I do not hear of you on the news defeating some hideous beast that has aims of world domination." Then a question popped into the Queen's head out of nowhere. "You are not pregnant are you?"

"NO I'M NOT PREGNANT!" Diana basically shouted into the phone, causing Clark to jump. Diana knew she overreacted just then and took a deep breath to calm herself. "No mother, I'm not pregnant. I've just been helping Clark with something."

Hippolyta waited for Diana to tell her what it was, and found the line silent. "You are not going to tell me?"

"Not yet. It's delicate, we've got things to figure out first."

"And you are sure it is not a baby?" Hippolyta asked again with a smile, this time just to grind Diana's gears.

Clark who could hear the conversation started laughing, causing Diana to angrily elbow him in the ribs.

"I'm sure it's not a baby, is that all you have to say to me?" Diana was ready to be done.

Hippolyta thought a moment. "Yes I believe it is."

"Then goodbye mother." Diana quickly ended the call, put the phone down and crossed her arms in a huff. "All she ever does is tease me."

"You're easy to tease. The look on your face right now is priceless." Clark told her.

Diana frowned at him.

"See there it is, you frown and you scrunch up your nose. I love that." Then he lightly popped her in the nose with his finger.

Even when Clark got on her nerves he could still make her smile, she loved that about him but right now she was fighting the grin that she wanted to give, and Clark took advantage.

"But I love this even more, when you're trying so hard not to smile but you know you want to." He could tell she was on the verge of cracking, he needed just one thing to set her over the edge.

There was a secret that only Clark knew, one that Diana wished he didn't. She was extremely ticklish, particularly at her sides. It was her Kryptonite, and Clark knew exactly how to drive her crazy, and crazy she went.

Diana yelped, kicked and screamed at the top of her lungs for Clark to stop, all to no avail. Try as she might, but she could not stop laughing. Short of punching him in the face she was completely powerless to stop him, his touching wasn't unpleasant, it was the fact that she basically lost control of herself, that she couldn't stand.

* * *

Jor-El and Lara were both alerted to the sounds of a woman screaming, Jor immediately stood up but paused, trying to figure out where the sounds were coming from. He looked to Lara, who seemed to have a better idea. Who stood and headed for the door.

"That must be Diana. Could she be in pain?" Lara didn't have the slightest idea why Diana might be screaming if she weren't in pain.

"Where is Kal then?" Jor wondered, following his wife.

The two Kryptonians followed the sound to a wing of the fortress that they weren't familiar with. It was one of the many areas that Kal expanded in his time here. They stopped in front of a door, and listened closer trying to be sure this was the correct one.

"Clark please! I'll do anything!" They could hear Diana begging.

Jor opened the door and Lara walked in first. "Kal!"

Clark immediately jumped off of Diana, having been caught red handed. He rolled quickly away from her and ended up falling off the bed, inadvertently bringing Diana with him.

"Hey, what's up?" Clark popped his head back up, so his parents could see him.

"We heard screaming. Is everything alright?" Lara asked.

"Oh yeah, everything is fine. Just uh, having a little fun." Clark explained, with an embarrassed smile on his face.

"It sounded as if Diana was in pain. Is she well?" Lara leaned her head to see Diana who was laying on the ground breathing heavily.

"I'm okay." A totally out of breath Diana stated. "It's just a game we play, one that Clark is ultimately going to lose."

"Everything is well?" Jor asked just for final clarification.

"Yes." Clark assured him. "Also your room is ready. You guys will take this one, and we'll move back into ours."

"Oh, very well." Jor stated, this room was much more their style anyway. This one didn't have any of the earthly touches the other one did. They didn't have to worry themselves about ruining any of their personal belongings.

* * *

A short while later, Lara and Diana were hanging clothes into the new closets for Jor and Lara while the men were checking Kelex's progress in breaking the encryption code for the files on General Zod's followers.

"What sort of game could you have been playing with Kal that had you screaming?" Lara asked about earlier.

"Um." Diana started laughing as she tried to come up with an explanation. "It's just something we do sometimes."

"I see. I am unsure if I could play such a game." She found Kal literally laying on top of her, she wasn't sure if she could allow Jor to do that, or if he'd even be willing to.

"You could, if you wanted to." Diana told her.

Lara wasn't sure about that, so she changed the subject. "Kal mentioned we would be going somewhere?"

"Yes. We're going to the place where he grew up. You'll get to meet the people who found him, and raised them as their son." Diana looked at Lara and saw a sad, longing look on her face. "Are you alright?"

"It strange. Kal is my son, I helped make him. To see him as a man when I remembered him as a tiny baby. I… cannot find the words to describe what I feel. I had planned to raise him, to teach him to reach his fullest potential. It's strange that another could do such a thing."

"I think when you meet them it won't feel so strange."

"I look forward to it."

At this point, Clark wasn't even sure if he wanted to know more about General Zod or his followers. Sometimes he did, sometimes it was too painful a memory to even want to rehash any of it. Luckily for him the computer still hadn't found anything.

"So you say you were raised on a farm?" Jor asked him.

"Yes, they grow something called corn, it's a type of food that people eat. I learned a lot out on those fields. My parents are really great people, I don't know what would've happened to me without them."

Jor turned Kal and noticed a faraway look, there was something clearly on his mind. He almost wanted to ask, but thought different. Perhaps in meeting the people Kal saw as his parents he might have a better understanding of human kind.


	7. Chapter 7

One thing Jor and Lara were accustomed to was the transporter, it was nothing for them to be sent quickly from one point to another on another side of the planet. The four of them were standing about 100 yards away from the Kent's home.

"Welcome to Smallville, Kansas." Clark announced holding his arms out, happy to be home. He had to work hard not to make a Wizard of Oz reference.

Lara looked in every direction, there was a house a short distance in front of her, a dirt road behind her and nothing but fields on either side. "Not much to it, but then again that was the intention."

"An area with a low population, we thought it would be best for us." Jor added. "Is this where the ship landed?"

"Behind the house is what they told me. Come on, I'm sure they'll tell us all about it." Clark walked ahead.

Lara slowly followed, looking to Diana. "Are you sure these clothes are appropriate?" She felt very uncomfortable.

Diana looked at Lara who was wearing blue jeans and a long sleeve sweater. Actually it wasn't appropriate, it was 90 degrees out today. Despite the fact that the temperature wouldn't bother them, no one in the county would be dressed like them. Diana kept things simple. "You're dressed fine."

Jor who was wearing jeans and a flannel shirt, had been trying to figure out how to express to Lara how he felt about her looks decided to take the chance to say it now. "Your clothing is more than acceptable, you look beautiful."

Clark who was walking several paces ahead of everyone turned back and gave a confused look. He was not expecting Jor to say that at all. He wondered if he actually meant it, or if he was simply copying a human phrase. From what he'd figured out by now, they didn't seem to care much about looks.

Lara didn't say anything, but found herself feeling much more confident about herself now that she had Jor's approval.

Diana smiled with delight, the wheels were already beginning to turn.

* * *

As Clark approached the steps to his parents home, Martha walked outside in a huff. "Hey mom what's wrong?" Clark was concerned at her look.

"Clark your father has lost his mind!" Martha shouted.

"What?"

Jor paused at the woman's statement, and looked to Lara and then Diana. Almost on instinct he touched his head, before determining that the statement wasn't literal. Then it dawned on him that she wasn't talking about him, in fact she hadn't even noticed him yet.

"Um…. Ok, I'm sure he'll find it. In the meantime we've got guests."

Martha looked up for the first time and noticed the people standing behind Diana. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. The man and woman looked just like Clark. "Uh, Clark? What's going on?"

"Can we go inside? You might want to sit down for this one." Clark hoped.

"Sure."

Martha led them inside, everyone filed into the living room with Jor heading up the rear. Jonathan came from another room from behind Jor, not hearing any of the talking outside or having seen anyone else enter. He assumed it was just Clark and Diana visiting, and spoke to Jor as if he were Clark.

"Hey Clark did you see my bike outside?" He asked in an excited tone.

"Bike?" Jor turned around.

Jonathan didn't know what he was thinking, the man looked a lot like Clark but was shorter and much less muscular. He looked like Clark when he was about 20 years old. "You're not Clark."

"Hey dad, come in here." _Both of you._ Clark called from the other room.

Jonathan walked into the room and sat down on the sofa next to a highly confused Martha. Looking at the two strangers standing in their living room.

Having an alien for a son and a super powered Amazon for a should be daughter-in-law, Martha was no stranger to odd occurrences but this one took the biscuit. Who were these people? "Are these your children? Sent from the future?"

"They don't look like Diana though." Jonathan pointed out.

Diana frowned, why is everyone making reference to her having children all of a sudden?

"They are not. Mom and Dad, meet my Mom and Dad." Clark said.

This was the most awkward experience Clark had faced since he first met Hippolyta some years ago. He wasn't sure if she was going to kill him or what. She just sat there. Today he worried if the Kents were going to have heart attacks.

"And I thought this was going to be awkward." Diana joked, trying to break the tension.

Lara didn't know what to think, she was seeing people who on Krypton would look to be in thier late mid 100's age wise. Looking around, she noticed the mantle and the pictures that were lined across it.

"Uh, welcome. My name is Martha Kent and this is my husband Jonathan." Martha finally found her voice. She had an internal bout of maternal jealousy, Clark was _her_ son.

"My name is Jor-El and this is my wife Lara."

"Well Clark, you certainly look like them." Jonathan pointed out.

"Who else would he look like?" Jor asked.

"That is a very good point." Jonathan agreed. "So Clark, how are these your parents? You said Krypton was gone. Did they come from the same place the others did?"

"Uh no. Theoretically they got here the same time as I did."

"So why do they look so young?" Martha wondered.

Before Clark could answer, Jor interrupted. "Where did the ship land?"

"Behind the house, about 100 yards that way." Jonathan pointed towards the back of the house, in the direction the ship landed. "Felt like an earthquake."

Jor-El wasn't clear on the distance until Clark gave him an estimate with a Kryptonian unit of measure.

While the others talked Lara looked around the room, taking in the designs of the place. It felt very alien. She looked at one wall, with a cutout in the center surrounded by bricks, with a shelf above it. The shelf was adorned with pictures, many of them looked to be Kal. She walked towards them to get a closer look. Stopping at a baby picture.

Diana followed her, noticing that Lara was struggling to control herself. Lara may not have given birth to her son in an earthly sense, but that didn't mean she didn't feel a maternal connection to him. It was clear to Diana that Lara missed out on being with her baby son, just based on the way she stared at the photo. Jor looked too, but he didn't move from his spot.

Martha saw this, "We have lots of photos, would you like to see more?"

"Yes." Lara and Jor said simultaneously.

Clark sat in between Jor and Lara on the sofa holding the stack of baby books going through each one. While Diana brought in extra chairs for the Kents to sit on. There were a million questions hanging in the air, but it seemed no one had the courage to ask. So Clark just flipped through the picture book.

"So, now that you're here on Earth, what exactly are your plans?" The ever curious Martha wanted to know.

"We are to learn to integrate into society." Jor answered, before looking back at a polaroid of Clark playing the outfield during a t-ball game when he was about 6.

"What are you doing?" Lara asked, pointing to the t-ball picture.

"It's a game we play here." Before Clark could continue he noticed both Jor and Lara look up at Diana, no doubt they were remembering the 'game' he claimed they were playing earlier. "Not like that. It's a sport called t-ball, which is a children's version of a game called baseball. It's something we do for fun."

"What kinds of things did you do for fun where you're from?" Martha questioned.

"Fun: enjoyment, amusement, or lighthearted pleasure." Jor defined the word in english to remind himself what it meant. "I could not say, in my youth I excelled in mathematics. I spent much of my time learning advanced equations, when I came of age my studies allowed me to become the youngest director in the history of the Science Guild."

"You did math? That sounds uh…. educational." Jonathan observed.

"It was." Jor agreed, not catching the irony of Jonathan's statement.

Eyes turned to Lara, and she assumed it was her turn to tell what she did. "I excelled at _Klukor,_ it is the primary defensive martial art used by the Kryptonian military. Until our house was shamed I served as a commander in that military."

"Martial arts?" Diana perked up. "I've studied many forms in my life, and I myself am part of a military of sorts. Perhaps you could teach me _Klukor_ one day."

"Perhaps I will. Through careful training I will learn to master the changes that this atmosphere will put my body through." Also Lara's teachers always told her that if she didn't diligently practice _Klukor _she would forget it.

"Your house was shamed?" Jonathan asked, "What does that mean?"

"As director of the science guild, I had access to every piece of seismological and geographical equipment, many of which I designed and built myself. I discovered that our planet was dying, our…. what is the word I'm searching for?" He said it to Clark in Kryptonian.

"Ozone layer." Clark translated.

"Our… ozone layer was nearly depleted, and the planet's core had become unstable. I predicted the planet had less than a year before it became unable to support life. I went to the council, but they rejected my findings." Jor trailed off. "When I refused to admit mistake, I was stripped of my title, and my house was shamed."

Lara continued. "Kal was barely an embryo in the genesis chamber, with our house shamed he would have been cast from society, but that did not matter. We could not bear to watch him die, so we prepared to send him away. In his youth my father Lor-Van aspired to travel the stars, and built a ship which would allow him to do so. But space travel was outlawed before he could pilot it. We took his ship and outfitted it to carry Kal to Earth, in a last minute decision we attempted to come with him by storing ourselves inside the orb. We succeeded, but not until recently."

"The orb?" A surprised Jonathan asked, he had a funny feeling.

"Yeah, it was a white ball that was sitting in the chamber where I was. I barely even paid attention to it. It was Diana who got it to work." Clark explained, before he looked to Diana.

"I picked it up the other day and noticed it sort of looked like it had shotgun pellets in it. I picked them out and the next morning, these two were standing in my kitchen." Diana described nonchalantly.

Martha gasped loudly and began to breathe heavily, like she was gasping for air.

"Mom are you alright?" Clark asked.

"You said shotgun pellets?" An incredulous Jonathan asked.

"Yeah." Diana didn't understand what the big deal was.

Martha wordlessly stood up and walked into the kitchen. She tried to calm herself but her hands were shaking as she reached into the cupboard and pulled out a glass and filled it with water before gulping it down.

Everyone watched Martha walk out of the room but the wheels were turning in Clark's mind. There were shotgun shells in the orb, and he knew for a fact that she had been winning clay pigeon competitions for years.

Clark jumped up. "You shot it?!"

Martha walked in and took a deep breath. "Yes."

Diana looked at Clark and silently mouthed the word, "Wow." to him. Clark fell back onto the couch causing his biological parents to jump.

"Well that's a doozy if I ever heard one. Much more so than my most recent purchase." Jonathan said with a big smile.

"Jonathan don't even start with that!" Martha flipped from calm to angry at the flip of a switch, evidently he bought something she didn't approve of. Clark had a feeling that would be coming up later.

Jonathan just laughed at her reaction.

Martha turned nice again, looking to Jor and Lara. "The ship crash landed behind the house one night while we were sleeping. We went outside to investigate, and a white ball shot out of the ship and it scared me half to death. I shot it, feeling I had to do whatever had to do to protect myself and my husband. I couldn't have children of my own, so when I found that little boy inside I kept him. And I loved him like he was my own son."

Martha didn't know what was going to happen next, but she came clean, knowing it had to be done. She was however surprised when Jor spoke next.

"What's done is done. Our society was based on reason, it would be illogical to argue over past events that we cannot change."

After a long while Diana spoke up. "The way I see it, it was destiny that we all met." She looked at the Kents, "In the years that I've known you I've never seen you turn away someone in need if you could help them. I believe even years ago you would have helped two young parents with a baby, no matter how you found them. Instead of fretting over who did what and how. We should see this as reunion, a celebration that we can all have as a family."

Diana's statement changed the outlook of the day. Jonathan and Martha knew she was spot on with her statement. They absolutely would have helped them all those years ago had the situation been a little different. It occurred to them that they could still help, theoretically Jor and Lara were younger than Clark was. And they knew almost nothing about life on Earth, Clark and Diana would be at the forefront of their earthly education but the Kents could play a big role if necessary too.

* * *

They found themselves walking outside, first stopping at the crash site. Where Jor and Lara didn't find anything interesting about it, the hole had been filled decades ago and by now looked no different than any other patch of land. But Jonathan was beyond excited to show Clark and Diana his newest purchase, despite Martha's disapproval.

"I heard you say something about a bike earlier, but Dad I've got to tell you I was not expecting this." Clark stood outside the barn looking at a proud Jonathan.

Jonathan was showing off his new toy. A brand new Victory Boardwalk motorcycle, decked out with black paint and chrome accents.

Diana was wide eyed, she didn't see this coming from him. "Well, the cruiser style certainly fits you. I couldn't see you on a sportbike or something like that."

"I agree." Clark said. "So why a Victory and not a Harley?"

Jonathan swung his leg over the side and sat on the bike. "Several reasons, this was the best looking bike I found. American made, built over in Iowa. And it's about half the price of a Harley."

"Ah, that'll do it." Clark said of the price.

"Clark please talk him out of this." Martha begged.

"Martha I've wanted one of these for years, I told you a long time ago. In fact I specifically remember you saying that you wanted to ride with me."

Martha rubbed the bridge of her nose before shouting again. "Jonathan I was 19! And you were really good looking, back then I'd have said anything to keep you around."

Diana smiled at the handsome comment. Martha had told her about Jonathan when he was young, and how all the girls flocked to him, but his eyes never strayed from her.

"And after 30-whatever years, you're still the most beautiful woman I've ever met. I want to strut around town with my lady with me." Jonathan retorted. He had purchased her a helmet and jacket to match his.

"Do you see what I have to deal with?" Martha looked to Lara and Diana, but realized that only Diana was paying attention.

Jor was examining the motorcycle, when Jonathan started it up. The roar of the engine really grabbed his attention and he walked forward to get a closer look. "A two wheeled propulsion vehicle. Fascinating."

Lara wasn't in the least bit surprised Jor was interested in the bike. She figured he was trying to figure out exactly how it worked, he was always into how every machine and device worked down to how each tiny part fit together. He'd spend hours learning it if he could.

"Jonathan please, just give it to Clark and live vicariously through him. At least he and Diana won't end up quadriplegics." Martha tried to reason.

Jonathan turned the bike off. "It's not like I'm going to go fast. Clark what was that one Fresh Prince line?"

"Two miles an hour so everybody sees you?" Clark guessed, recalling the line from the Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff's song 'Summertime'.

Jonathan pointed to Clark in confirmation. "Yeah, that."

Martha threw her hands in the air, deciding to drop the argument. For now. There were other things to deal with right now. "Diana, would you like to help me start dinner?"

"I would be happy to." Diana followed Martha into the house.

Lara, unsure of what to do decided to go with the women, while the men examined the machine.


	8. Chapter 8

Lara sat back and watched Diana and Martha get to work on dinner. Each of them had a knife and were splitting something called chicken wings into three pieces. The drumette and the wingette were placed into a bowl and the wing tip was discarded. Diana and Martha worked diligently and without complaint, however Diana was going much faster.

"Do women always prepare the meals for the men?" Lara wondered.

"Not always." Martha answered. "It depends on the couple. Jonathan helps me if I ask him to, but for the most part I do it. But it's not a bad thing, I like to cook."

"It's the opposite for Clark and I, he does most of the cooking but I help when necessary." Diana explained. "Typically when we are here, I help Martha."

"I see." Lara eyed the chicken wings in the bowl. "May I try one?"

"Not yet." Martha explained. "They have to be cooked first. I would not imagine them tasting very good raw. I would get sick if I ate one like this, I'm not sure about Clark though. I don't recall him ever eating any raw meat."

Lara turned to Diana. "Will they taste anything like tomato soup?"

"No. Every food here has it's own unique flavor." Diana then turned to Martha, "They thoroughly enjoyed your tomato bisque."

"Did they now? Maybe it's a family thing? Clark loves lemon pepper chicken too. I wonder how you two will react." Martha smiled.

Outside, Clark and Jor were watching Jonathan on his motorcycle. To Clark he seemed like a kid on christmas. But and overly polite kid, he didn't touch, he simply observed and asked questions.

"Why is it so loud?" Jor asked, he'd been on a roll trying to learn as much as he could.

"That's the way the engine works, I like the sound. It's like I can feel the power in my hands." Jonathan stated.

Clark figure it was also the sun's effect in the way he processes sounds. But he didn't say anything, he was actually thinking of what to do about their growing powers, outside of the fortress they would begin to have issues soon over their enhanced strength. Then he got an idea.

"Hey guys I'll be right back." Clark turned and made his way into the house.

The chicken had been cut, and was now sitting in the refrigerator to marinate for a little while, but the three women stayed sitting at the kitchen table.

"Jonathan is your husband is he not?" Lara asked.

"Yes he is, creeping up on 40 years now." Martha stated proudly.

"Jor is my husband, yet Kal is not yours. Yet you act as if he is." Lara turned to Diana. "I do not fully understand this."

"Me neither." Martha stated. "What do you think Clark?"

It just so happened, that Clark was walking through the kitchen at that exact moment. Boy was that horrible timing. He looked to Diana, who had a deer in the headlights look and chose his course of action.

"I don't think anything about anything, because I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just here to get my old football." He lied, he knew exactly what they were saying and chose to leave Diana to answer for him. He didn't stay to say another word, he just hurried up to his old room, and came back spinning a football in his palm. "When you get a chance you should all come outside."

Diana and Martha kept their eyes in the space Clark had just departed, both with unhappy looks. They knew what he just did. Lara however was completely clueless. "I still do not understand."

Diana was left on the spot, she was going to have to get payback against Clark for this. "Well, traditionally the man asks the woman for her hand in marriage. Clark has never asked me. We've talked about it a little bit, he knows I'm not against it, but I still ask why? We're together, and we're not ever leaving each other. Our relationship isn't as straight forward as either of yours is."

"How so?" Lara asked.

"We've told you briefly about Superman and Wonder Woman, the entire world knows we're together. Whether they love it or hate it, we are the Ultimate Power Couple."

"Superman and Wonder Woman, the protectors of this world." Lara recalled.

"Yes. But so much of Superman is a facade, the man that the world sees isn't the man that I see, or the people close to him see. Superman isn't who I fell in love with. I'm in love with Clark. But with me it's the opposite, Wonder Woman is who I am, I am a hero, I am an ambassador, and in many ways a philanthropist, that's my passion. Diana Prince is mostly a front, she's arm candy for Clark."

"I understand why Superman and Wonder Woman can't get married. But why can't Diana Prince marry Clark Kent? You live together, you act like a married couple. Instead of shacking up, why not make it official? Even if Diana Prince isn't totally real, Clark is." Martha reasoned.

Diana sighed, she was not in the slightest bit against marrying Clark, it just seemed like she'd only be doing it for Martha and Jonathan's benefit instead of her own. And she didn't even want to think about what Hippolyta might think. "I don't know. That's just the way it is I guess."

Martha wasn't buying it, but she decided to let it go. For now. "Clark wanted to see us outside."

* * *

Martha smiled when she stepped onto the porch to see Clark and Jonathan having a catch with the football he'd taken outside. Jor just stood and watched for now. Martha had an idea what Clark was doing.

"Lesson number one." Clark tossed the ball up and down to himself. "As I'm sure both of you are already feeling, your cells are soaking up this wonderful sunlight. Your senses are getting sharper, your muscles are getting stronger and in time you will have to learn to control it. One of the most important things you need to learn is manual dexterity. Your fingers can obliterate just about anything you pick up here if you're not careful. Diana, could you go long please?"

Diana frowned, wearing shorts and a tank top she didn't feel dressed to play football but she indulged him for Jor and Lara's sake. Diana ran a straight line away from the house out into the grass, while Clark took a 7 step drop before firing a tight spiral in Diana's direction.

The ball fell in Diana's outstretched hands in perfect stride. She made the play with as much ease as a Hall of Fame wide receiver would have. She tucked the ball in her arm and came to a stop. She was about to throw the ball back to Clark when it occurred to her that she needed payback for earlier, from the tickling and leaving her out to dry over the marriage question with his mothers. So without letting him know anything was amiss, she threw the ball back to him.

Clark knew that Diana was highly coordinated, and she proved it once again by throwing a perfect spiral right towards him, but it was a little high. He had to jump to catch it. He didn't notice until the ball touched his fingertips that Diana had duped him. After she threw the ball she darted towards him at an incredible speed, and slammed into him like a safety hits a receiver crossing the middle.

Martha laughed heartily at Diana's move while Jonathan struggled not to. Jor and Lara on the other hand looked completely dumbfounded. No doubt wondering how what Diana and Clark just did could teach them anything.

Clark had the wind knocked out of him, and had been driven back about 10 feet. Diana pushed herself from on top of him with a big grin on her face.

"Payback."

"It's all good, I even caught the ball." Clark bragged, tucking it under his arm.

"Whatever."

"Can I get back to the lesson please?"

"Fine." Diana stood up and dusted herself off.

"Anyway, for the purposes of this lesson please disregard what Diana just did." Clark addressed the El's while knocking some of the dirt off his clothes. "Let's focus on my throw. I am 6 foot 5 and 235 pounds. I threw that ball about 70 yards in the air, and I am confident in saying that there is not a man my size who can throw a football any further than I just did. One of the things you'll have to learn, is how to gauge how strong someone your size is. Let's start simple. Diana and Jor can I get you two to stand about 20 yards in that direction for me?"

Jor followed Diana in the direction Clark pointed, and stopped at the distance he asked.

Clark continued. "You're going to have to learn how to gauge your strength for whatever you're doing. If we wanted to, we could launch this ball into orbit no problem, but that would raise a lot of suspicion. We need to look like regular people. So Jor, catch the ball and then throw it back to me."

Clark tossed the ball, giving it a good amount of height to make it as easy as possible for Jor to catch it. It took several seconds for Jor to pick up the flight of the ball, first he stepped back, and then forward before reaching out and hauling it in.

Clark almost fell over at watching Jor do that. He was reminded of a girl who was slightly afraid of the ball, but was playing catch because she liked the boy who owned the football. And the throw was even worse, Jor threw like an uncoordinated girl who was worried about messing up her nails. The ball flew through the air like a wounded duck, and was going to fall well short of the intended target. Clark ran up and caught it like a punt, then stepped back to Lara.

Jonathan and Martha both winced at the throw, it was not a pretty sight.

"Uh? Maybe you try to throw." Clark handed the ball to Lara, and was about to instruct her how to do it but she stepped away from him and fired a spiral directly at Diana's outstretched hands.

What Clark hadn't seen, was that Lara was closely examining everything Clark was doing. She noticed how he gripped the ball with his fingers across the laces, how he stepped forward with his front foot, and how he flicked his wrist and followed through with his shoulder. She picked it up and copied it instantly. And unsurprisingly she caught the return throw from Diana like she'd been playing football for years.

Jonathan could pick up Clark's disappointment right away, he knew Clark would have loved to play catch with his dad like this. So he took it upon himself to teach Jor a proper throwing motion, just like he taught Clark years ago. It took a little while, as Jor seemed more interested in calculating the angle and trajectory of the ball, and the effects of wind against the laces and the impact of spin. But once they figured out that Jor was left handed, things got easier. He was beginning to pick it up, until Martha called everyone inside for dinner.

* * *

As with the tomato soup, Jor and Lara quite enjoyed the food. It was nothing like the flavorless nutrition tablets that had everything the body needed, but nothing it wanted. They ate heartily.

"What was Krypton like? How did society function?" Jonathan asked.

"Our society functioned on the basis of logic." Jor explained.

"Logic? How was it logical to allow the planet to die?" Diana questioned.

"It was not. But the council believed my findings were erroneous, I designed and built the instruments that detected the destabilization of the planet, but no others could detect it. The council found it logical that my readings were false." Jor explained flatly.

Martha preferred not to dwell on the sad parts of their lives. She didn't think either of them or Clark wanted to hear too much about Krypton's destruction, so she tried to lighten the mood a little. "How did you two meet?"

Lara took this one. "When we come of age, all Kryptonians are assigned a mate of the opposite sex by the Registry of Citizens. I was matched with Jor based on age, occupation and personality traits. The members of each of our houses met at a joining temple, where I left the house of Van and joined the house of El."

"House of Van and El? I don't get it." Jonathan scratched his head.

But before anyone explained it to him, Martha jumped in. "So you had an arranged marriage in which you married right after you first met?"

"Correct." Lara stated.

"Wow. I couldn't have done it." Martha mused.

Diana agreed, "Me neither."

"So why all the logic? Why remove all value in emotion?" Jonathan wondered, figuring he wasn't going to get an answer about houses.

Both Jor and Lara were stumped, they didn't have a definite answer, other than the fact of that's how they were taught.

"Because the other Kryptonians, they were very emotional, in fact they were emotionally unstable." Jonathan recalled, General Zod tried to kill he and Martha before Clark intervened by punching him across the county.

"We've tried to look through the fortress computer, but the files were encrypted. We're still trying to break it." Diana got in the middle of that line of thought. She didn't want Clark to go too deeply into his ordeal with Zod, she knew the depth of Clark's pain over that much more than the Kents did. And sought to protect him from the horrible memories.

Lara however didn't get that Diana wanted to turn the conversation. "I served in Krypton's military, but never learned of a General Zod. I am also curious to discover who he was."

Clark tried to tune out out the conversation, and he got a welcomed distraction in the form of a buzzing phone. Before he checked the message he noticed that Diana was reaching for her phone as well. He prepared for the worst, so did the Kents.

"Is it bad?" Martha asked, hoping it wasn't.

"It's not an emergency that requires immediate attention, so that's something." Clark answered.

"We just have to be somewhere later." Diana explained cryptically. The less the Kents knew the better.

Both Clark and Diana had received a text from Bruce. "Tower meeting at midnight. Hal has news that may concern you. Plus you two have explaining to do."

* * *

They stayed in Smallville for several more hours, sharing one awkward conversation after another. However a calm did come over everyone, now that the meeting of the parents was out of the way, the road to discovery and understanding could be paved. Clark wished he could stay longer and avoid dealing with the League a little longer, but it wasn't in the cards. So shortly after returning to the fortress Clark and Diana prepared to leave.

"As long as you stay inside here, everything will be perfect." Clark assured.

"Very well." Jor stated.

"We'll be back in the morning. You're welcome to anything, please make yourselves at home." Diana added.

"Yes, thank you." Lara said, adding the thanks to the end as it was the 'human' thing to do.

Clark and Diana turned and exited the fortress. Before taking flight towards the Watchtower Clark paused.

"Are you alright?" Diana asked him.

"I think so."

"They'll be fine. They're adults, and as long as they're in there they can't hurt anything. What are they going to do anyway? Go out partying and get drunk?" Diana tried to lighten the mood.

Clark chuckled. "I guess not. Alright, let's go see what the Batman needs now."


	9. Chapter 9

The meeting was for the senior members only. Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, Cyborg and Hawkgirl. Clark and Diana were the last to arrive, and the conversation stopped as soon as they stepped into the room.

"What?" Clark asked, a little paranoid.

"Have a seat, let's do this." Barry said impatiently. "I've got things to do."

"Ok then reports." Clark announced. "Anybody?"

Everyone looked at each other waiting for someone to speak up. It was rare something happened that the others didn't know about, this had been a rather quiet week for all. So it appeared Hal was the man of the day.

"Hal apparently you had something that concerned us?" Diana asked.

"Yeah. Reports from Apokolips. They are engaged in battle with several rebelling worlds. Now that's probably not all that surprising, but my sources on New Genesis tell me that Lashina has left the Furies and defected. I figured you'd want to know because of that weird little thing she has for Clark."

Diana gave a sarcastic laugh, and turned to Clark. "How does it feel to bring out the crazy in so many of the women you meet? Lashina, Lois Lane, Me."

"Wait, you?"

"Yeah me." Diana assured him. "You make me crazy."

"What does that even mean?" Clark gave up, and turned back to Hal. "Is there anything to suggest she's going to come back here?"

"No indications of where she went or what she wants. Maybe she forgot about you?" Hal suggested.

"Well we can only hope. Anything else?" Clark slouched in disappointment at the news.

"Yeah, you two." Batman said sternly.

"What about us?" Diana asked.

"You cancel all your appearances and meetings, and disappear for days. What's up?" Batman spoke as if he were interrogating them. More for mental exercise than anything, he knew he couldn't intimidate them very much.

"How'd you know I cancelled all my meetings?" Diana didn't like Bruce spying on everyone.

"Because one of them was with me." Batman said obviously.

"Oh yeah." Diana recalled.

Batman didn't back down, "So are you going to tell us?"

"I got it." Shayera spoke for the first time. "You guys are pregnant!"

"I am not pregnant!" Diana stood up and pounded the table, narrowly missing Cyborg's wrist in the process. "Don't even joke about that!"

Even Clark was surprised, but he took the chance to make a little fun of Diana. "Now you can't blame that little outburst of crazy on me."

"Shut up." Diana whispered.

"So what is it?" Victor wanted to know.

"Should we tell them Clark?" Diana asked.

"I don't really want to, but then that puts us in a pickle. Because if we don't, the Caped Crusader here is going to dig, and dig, and dig, and dig, and dig, and dig, until he finds something. Without any regard to how much it annoys us." Clark complained.

"That's one of the ways I get what I want." Batman quipped. Those who knew him very well knew that this was one of his subtle attempts to be funny.

"How about you give us some money, I'll tell you then." Clark said half jokingly. "I have discovered two survivors of Krypton."

Everyone in the room began a slow mumble to themselves, all except Shayera knew where they were the day General Zod and his 'cult' followers tried to destroy human life.

"Hold on, it's not going to be like last time. These two chose to come to Earth, in fact they were the ones who sent me here. They're my parents."

A collective gasp went over the room.

"Are you sure they're your parents?" Batman was forever the skeptic.

"Positive."

"He and his mom share a nose." Diana observed.

"How did they get here? I thought they died with the planet?" Barry asked.

"So did I. But they were in the ship with me the whole time, locked in some kind of suspended animation device. Diana figured out how to open it a few days ago."

"How can you be sure they won't reject your humanity? Try to take over the planet and turn it into Krypton?" Batman continued the questions.

"See this is why I didn't want to say anything. After all this time you still don't trust me?" Clark was beginning to get angry.

"I trust you, not them."

"You don't trust me to handle the situation? And you don't trust her to help?" Clark pointed to Diana.

"You're not objective."

"And you are? Who died and made you everyone's keeper? You know what, I'm done." Clark stood up to leave.

Hal didn't like the way Batman was operating and looked to reassure Clark. "The Guardians won't like it. Just like they don't like anyone they can't control, but I will keep them at bay unless it's necessary. And if you need anything let me know."

"Thanks Hal." Diana spoke on Clark's behalf, who walked out as soon as Hal finished.

"Seriously Bruce?" Hal questioned angrily.

"That's cold man. Clark is one of us, and you know damn well he is. He should at least get the benefit of the doubt." Cyborg scolded.

Before anyone else could get on his case Batman got up and left, transporting himself back to the cave. He went too far, and he knew it. Maybe he did it out of jealousy. Clark Kent, the man who has everything gets something else, his parents back. Something that Bruce knew he'd never get. That was always one of the things he had in common with Clark, sure they had the Kents and Alfred but there was a strange little kinship he felt to Clark over them being orphans.

Now that it was all over, and Clark was pissed off, Bruce couldn't even figure out why it bothered it him so much. It shouldn't have, but it did. He was a grown man, but still a part of him was a 10-year-old boy who desperately wanted his mom and dad back. And that little boy had just lashed out at one of his most trusted friends.

"Something bothering you Master Bruce?" Alfred approached him.

Bruce turned quickly, he'd been so in his thoughts he hadn't heard anyone approach. "Yeah."

* * *

Diana managed to get Clark back to their apartment in Metropolis where she tried to calm him down. She had to admit she was pretty mad at Bruce herself, but Clark was seething with anger right now.

"Does he even realize if he keeps this up he's going to turn everybody against him?" Clark ranted.

"Yes, and we all try to keep that from happening."

"It's all about the goddamn Batman! It's like everyone coddles him, makes sure he never does anything wrong. When in reality he's a borderline sociopath who's never gotten over his parents death."

Diana stood directly in front of Clark and looked him right in the face. For the most part she agreed with him. "And that's the thing Clark, he's never going to get over his parents death. And if you or I watched our parents murdered in front of our eyes we probably wouldn't either. Consider the possibility that your parents being found alive and well just reminded him all over again of the most traumatic event in his life. One of his best friends just found the one thing that he can never have."

Clark took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Diana did have a very good point.

Diana tenderly took each side of Clark's face in her hands. "I'm angry at Bruce too, he crossed the line, but don't you stoop to his level. You don't like to be reminded of the painful events of your past any more than he does. And don't even try to deny it, not to me."

Diana was referring to Clark's confrontation with Zod. Taking his life has haunted Clark ever since, and Diana was the one who knew the toll that act really took on him. She was the one who held him when the nightmares became too real, she was the one who assured him that he did the right thing.

Clark also knew that it was only a matter of time before Jor-El's decryption program unlocked the files on Zod, and he'd be faced with those memories again. No matter what he needed, a shoulder to cry on, or someone to pick him up, anything. Diana would be there.

"I think more importantly is figuring out what to do about Lashina if she comes back." Diana let him go, and changed the subject.

"Hopefully she won't."

"I hope she won't too, but we should have a plan. Things are different with your parents here." A logical plan was needed, Diana knew that, because the only thing on her mind was curb stomping anyone who wanted to hurt Clark.

"Yeah." Clark agreed.

Lashina had a sick twisted idea of having Superman as hers. She didn't love him, but wanted him to love her. She wanted to destroy everything he held dear and keep him almost as a pet. It was a strange obsession she had, and it completely boggled the mind because it made no logical sense. And if she defected from Apokolips, it meant that she was no longer under Darkseid's control and left to her own devices.

Clark took a deep breath and walked into the closet, coming out wearing a pair of shorts. He wordlessly dove on the bed and covered his head with the pillow. Diana removed her armor and joined him, figuring to get a little bit of rest before returning to the fortress.

Diana was a much lighter sleeper than Clark was, so she was the one who was woken up by a buzzing phone. But it was not hers, it was Clark's. Thinking it may be important Diana climbed over Clark and checked it. A text from Lois.

The message read, "Haven't seen u or Diana in a while, r u guys still on earth?"

Diana answered just to keep her at bay. "Still here. Lol. Just been busy."

It wasn't long before Clark began to stir, Diana was laying on top of him, which in his eyes could only be for one reason. He took advantage of the fact that Diana slept naked by caressing her soft skin. "Hey there."

"What?" The phone fell from Diana's hands as Clark rolled over and placed himself on top of her. "Really Clark? Now?"

"Hey you're the one who woke me up."

"I was answering a text." Diana argued.

"By laying on top of me?" Clark hadn't even noticed the phone, he was focused on her.

"Yeah, you're comfortable." Diana joked.

"So you're really going to thirst trap me like that?."

"Thirst trap? I'm not trying to trap you, go back to sleep."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah whatever." Clark grumbled.

Actually Diana understood his frustration, she gave him the wrong impression. It wasn't as if sex was a burden, in fact it was one of the joys of life. But right now was not the right time, with so many people making pregnancy references she was a bit hesitant to touch him. Besides, it wouldn't be long before they had to return to the fortress.

* * *

Clark wasn't in the best of moods when they returned to the fortress. Bruce and the possibility of Lashina had him a bit sour. So when he heard a very unfamiliar sound coming from the fortress he instantly got on edge.

He quickly followed the sound, into a room of the fortress that he didn't often venture into. It was some sort of workshop full of equipment that he didn't know how to use, however Jor had the room humming. And Clark almost lost it when he saw what Jor was working on.

"D-did you steal my dad's bike?" Clark asked incredulously.

In front of Jor-El was Lara sitting on a Victory Boardwalk motorcycle that looked exactly like the one Jonathan owned.

"I did not. I would never steal from anyone." Jor responded.

"Get out of here! I know you didn't just build that!"

"I did. I improved the design of the engine, but kept the aesthetic qualities Jonathan preferred."

Diana was astounded. "You built this all in one night? Wh-where did you get the metal?"

"I fabricated all of the parts using this machine." Jor pointed to a what looked like a large box sitting on a workbench. Clark hadn't figured out what it did yet, but clearly Jor knew.

"The alloy is far denser than what the original machine was made from, this will not rust, dent or wear. Also I have added gravity stabilizers to prevent the rider from falling. Lara has been testing it, the design is sound and can be presented to Jonathan within several hours."

Clark recalled the entire conversation he and his fathers had about the bike. Jor didn't ride it, he didn't sit on it, he only barely touched it. "You mean to tell me, you built an exact replica of my dad's bike just by looking at it?"

"Correct." Jor stated.

"Did you say gravity stabilizers?" Diana stepped forward.

"Yes. Martha indicated a concern he would fall and severely injure himself. The stabilizers prevent the rider from angling too far in either direction, greatly reducing the possibility of injury."

"And it works?" Clark was dumbfounded.

"Yes." Lara indicated.

"Wow."

Diana leaned close to whisper to Clark. "That's why he can't throw. He's a mechanical genius."

"Apparently."

Diana looked back at the El's, Lara was sitting on the bike while Jor was going over it with some sort of scanning device. Suddenly what Lara explained about her marriage made perfect sense.

She said that where one is weak the other is strong. Lara was in the military which meant she studied how to control her body, and but Jor was a scientist who studied with his mind. Between the two of them however, they would be able to accomplish a great many things. They had worked together to send Clark to earth and they worked together just now. Jor and Lara were an amazing couple in Diana's eyes. She couldn't wait for them to see an even deeper connection to each other.

Lara had spent most of the night helping Jor refine the machine he saw during their trip to Smallville, but her mind had been on other things she observed there. The closeness of the people she was surrounded by. Jonathan and Martha often stood or sat within close proximity to each other. Just as Kal and Diana do, and they touched each other from time to time. It couldn't help but make her wonder what she was missing by keeping distance from Jor.

She'd been thinking about it all night, and with his reveal that he thought she was beautiful she thought she was ready to do something about it. She she decided to bide her time, knowing Kal and Diana would return. There was something thrilling about the consideration of doing something so forbidden, and even though Diana indicated that it was normal, she still didn't want them to know about it.

She needed to figure out how to get Jor alone. Jor may be the scientist, but Lara was ready to do some experimenting for herself.


	10. Chapter 10

Jor indicated that he no longer needed Lara's assistance with the new motorcycle, so she dismounted and headed for the exit of the room. Clark went forward and began going over the bike himself.

"How do the stabilizers work exactly?" Clark asked.

"By creating a small gravity field on each side of the machine, it prevents the rider from leaning too far to one side or the other." Jor explained.

"Gravity field? Can I try it?"

"You may."

Jor-El's workshop wasn't exactly ideal for test riding a motorcycle but it would do for now. Clark started the motorcycle, which gave off a slightly deeper sound than Jonathan's. He looked closer, and saw that it was powered by an miniaturized omegahedron instead of gas, so the engine itself was more for cosmetics. It looked like a traditional motorcycle on the outside, but inside the components were very rudimentary.

"I use omegahedrons to power most of the equipment here, but you made it smaller. Why?" Clark asked.

"There was no need for a larger one, it would have been wasted potential energy. With the omegahedron this machine will run far beyond Jonathan's lifespan."

Clark cringed slightly, he preferred not to think about his parents lifespans compared to his own. "So all of this stuff here, where the original engine was, this is just for show?"

"It creates the sound. Jonathan indicated the sound was a large part of the appeal of this machine, but the omegahedron is what powers it."

"Right." This bike gave off a deeper more powerful sound than Jonathan's he'd probably love that. But Clark still needed to test it for himself before he could even consider giving it to his dad. So he got himself moving.

* * *

Diana who didn't know what else to do left with Lara, who simply walked around the expansive fortress. There didn't seem to be a purpose to the walking, and so far Lara hadn't spoken.

Diana tried to strike up a conversation. "So, do you and Jor often work together on projects such as that?"

"Yes. As part of the science guild he built many tools, I was the first to test many of them."

"You were in the military?" Diana asked.

"Yes, a commander."

"Did you fight in wars? What was the purpose of the military exactly?"

"There had been no wars in my lifetime, but we made sure to be prepared for the possibility of an attack from off world. The science guild and the military worked closely together. It was among the reasons, Jor and I were married. He was the director of the science guild, I would have risen to the rank of High General, but my support of his findings predicting Krypton's demise stopped that process."

Diana saw another parallel between her and Lara. Themyscira had an army, a great one. With weapons and tactics that could defend and defeat any technology Man's World could throw at them, but it was completely useless, because until recently Man's World didn't even know Themyscira existed, there was no need for an army.

"What is it you and Kal do when you're not looking after us?" Lara asked, trying set in motion events that would lead to he and Diana leaving.

"We do many things, along with saving the world from danger. As Wonder Woman I am the public face of an effort to rid the world of senseless violence, hunger, disease, greed. I run many charitable organizations to stop these things."

"Interesting. What of when you are alone? When we were in Smallville, Kal and yourself spoke as if you live two different lives?"

"Well, we do. There is the life we live for the world to see, and the private life that only those we care for see. In Smallville, you saw our private life."

"What else do you do?"

"Well, Clark lives the life of a normal human. He is the son of Jonathan and Martha Kent, he works as a reporter. He presents the happenings in the world to the people. While my human side is only a facade. Diana Prince exists only to be Clark Kent's woman, I don't have a traditional job, and I act as if one is impossible for me to have one. I am an artist, I paint, sculpt, make clothing, jewelry and any little thing I can. I don't conform to the traditions of society, I'm what they call a free spirit."

"And people believe this? They do not recognize your face as the hero they see in the world?"

"No."

"Are the people of this world dense?" Lara questioned.

"Not exactly." Diana tried to explain. "Clark once told me that no one sees Superman in Clark Kent, because they aren't looking for him. Superman is an all powerful alien who has dedicated himself to protecting human life, they simply wouldn't expect to see him or me wearing glasses and buying milk at the grocery store."

"Are you abandoning that life by looking after Jor and I?" Lara wanted to know.

"No, although we will have to get back to it soon." Diana admitted. "Clark cannot be away from his job for too long. He provides most of the funds we need to live on."

"I believe you should go back to your lives sooner rather than later. Jor and I will be here, surely you do not work all hours of the day?" Lara suggested.

"No."

"Do you have rest days from your work?"

"There are weekends, so I suppose yes. Although emergencies happen at any time and without warning."

"Jor and I can be patient, but you should not abandon those who rely on you. On weekends as you call them, is when you should take us exploring."

"Oh." Diana was getting the feeling Lara was trying to get rid of them. She could only hope it was so she could be alone with Jor.

* * *

Clark was very impressed at the Jor's work, he'd moved the bike to he and Diana's training room which was several football fields big, where he could build up as much speed as he wanted.

He tried to fall, he purposely leaned too hard around a turn and simply didn't get past a certain angle, but the bike maneuvered just fine. Then on his final turn, he removed his foot from the footrest and dragged it on the ground behind him. As he did that, he felt the force of the gravity stabilizer against the back of his calf. It was a very familiar feeling, so he went towards Jor and stopped right next to him.

"I like it. And I believe my mother would like it, so we'll take it to Smallville soon. But these gravity stabilizers are interesting."

"How?" Jor questioned.

"The way they work, what they do… That's how I fly."

For the next hour Clark used the gravity stabilizers to try to explain the principles of flight to his parents. In the end they hadn't soaked up enough solar energy to to actually do it, but they did have the beginnings of understanding the concept. Clark used a stabilizer against them so they could have the feeling of what it was to create one themselves.

* * *

But eventually they found themselves back in Metropolis.

"Did you get the feeling that Lara was trying to get rid of us?" Clark asked, as he checked his laptop for the news reports.

"Yes." Diana had an idea what Lara wanted. She had noticed some of the subtle things Clark was too focused on his lesson to see.

Lara had been standing closer to Jor than normal, enough that Jor stepped back from her several times. Unless Diana was way off base, she was reading hints of desire from Lara.

"I wonder why that was." Clark didn't see anything that might need Superman's assistance but he got up and put on the suit anyway.

"Well, she told me earlier that she didn't want us to abandon our lives just to care for them. Maybe it was that." Diana suggested.

"Maybe." Clark decided not to put too much into it. "I'm going to go for a spin, I'll see you in a little while."

"Ok, be safe." Diana kissed him and let him on his way.

Sometimes the world went weeks, or even months without significant incidents. There were always fires, auto accidents, and general street crime. But it took time to plan elaborate schemes to try to defeat the Justice League. Off worlders typically took their time planning attacks against the Earth. They appeared to be in one of those down times right now.

Clark hovered over a housing project on Metropolis' west side, a place where he was often seen. If memory served, there was a single, pregnant woman lived here who should be close to her delivery date. She had been in the store during a convenience store robbery some months back and either he or Wonder Woman had come back to check on her several times before.

People stopped and stared, and some snapped pictures as Superman walked through the apartment complex towards his destination. The door was answered after a few minutes and Superman was invited inside.

Diana decided to give the Embassy another day without her. As Diana Prince needed to be seen around the neighborhood a little bit, so she did a little shopping. First stopping at the arts and crafts store that she frequented not far from her apartment.

"Diana, hey!" Aeryn the girl who worked there greeted her.

"Hi Aeryn."

"Haven't seen you in a while. Done any show's lately?"

"No, not in a while. Haven't been able to get a venue." Occasionally Diana would do shows that displayed her paintings and sculptures where they were available for sale. She didn't make very much doing that, but on occasion it allowed her and Clark to buy something nice.

"Yeah, I've had that problem too." Aeryn lamented. "Trying anything new?"

"Yes, I think I'm going to try my hand at making some leather sandals." Diana eyed a thick piece of leather.

"Hmm. Never tried that."

"I've seen it done before, but I never have either." Diana knew several master shoemakers on Themyscira, who could put any of the famous designers to shame and had watched them work as a young girl, but she'd never tried to make any herself. Until now.

* * *

Clark stayed out most of the night, taking a tour around the world several times. He helped a few people out, stopping a few robberies here and there before coming home to Diana, who was in bed reading a book about shoemaking when he returned.

After showering, he joined her and began staring at her intently.

Diana could feel Clark's eyes on her, so she put her book down and looked back at him. By now she could tell when he was using his x-ray vision, because his pupils would dilate. But this was an different situation, mostly because she was already naked and his eyes were focused on her stomach.

"Clark what are you doing?"

"I'm checking to see if we're the only two in the room right now."

"Oh not you too." Diana groaned.

"I'm just trying to figure out what's going on with you." His brief conversation with the pregnant woman today made him think of Diana. Actually, she was the one who asked about the possibility of a super baby.

"Nothing is going on with me. I'm not pregnant, you know that."

"I can see that, but you've been acting a little crazy lately. You screamed at Shayera and almost broke Victor's arm. I feel the need to ask, do you even want children?"

Diana covered her face in frustration. "Clark we've talked about this before, you know my answer."

"I think we should talk about it again, just so we're on the same page."

"Yes Clark, I want children with you someday."

"Ok, so what's going on right now?"

"Everyone seems to be trying to dictate our lives to us. 'You should get married, you should have a baby' all this and that. From people who know us, and some who don't. It's infuriating. The only person whose opinion matters is yours."

"Well, my opinion is still that I want children, and I want my parents to be able to meet them."

Jonathan and Martha were 59 and 58 respectively, which meant to Diana their children needed to be born sometime in the next 15 or so years. To a person who doesn't age, 15 years is like a heartbeat.

"I know, and part of me wants that for them too but…" Diana trailed off.

"Listen we haven't shared anything new here. We both know how we feel about this, but I'm trying to figure out why you're freaking out about it all of a sudden."

"It's a stupid reason." Diana sighed loudly. "I had a daydream, or it was like a daydream only it felt more real. I saw two kids, a boy and a girl wearing the House of El symbol, and I couldn't figure out if they were our kids, or Jor and Lara's kids. I've tried to just forget it, but apparently I can't."

"That's it?" Clark tried not to laugh. "Just a daydream?"

"I told you it was stupid."

"It's not stupid, it's just… a little funny." Clark began to chuckle now. "Don't worry about it. If it happens we'll deal with it, if not that's fine too."

Clark gave her a kiss, and turned out the light.

Diana stayed awake a bit longer than Clark did. It wasn't as simple for her to not worry about it. She was the one who would have to carry the baby or an unknown period of time, Clark was still an alien, and while they were confident they could produce a child the normal way, they weren't positive. While Clark would be there every day, he'd only be along for the ride, she would have to do all the work. While she understood his reasoning, she still didn't think it was fair of him to put a timetable on when they had children.

Maybe it would be easier to grow one in a birthing matrix like the Kryptonians did.

* * *

In the fortress, Lara was breathing heavily. She had never been so nervous in her life, yet at the same time she couldn't have been more excited. She looked at herself in the mirror one last time before stepping to the doorway.

"Jor, can you come here?" She called.

"Yes." Jor who had been trying to create a gravity field around one of his tools put it down and went to join Lara.

It was often that she would stop him from working all night on something or another. She was the one who made sure he got the proper amount of rest each day. Even now on Earth where he felt more energized each day she kept up with it. He followed her voice to their bedroom but was floored when he got there.

Lara was standing in front of the bed wearing one of the lingerie sets that had been purchased for her. She felt her heart was going to beat out of her chest she was so anxious.

Jor stopped in his tracks and stared in silence. Seeing Lara like this was so… different. He felt things that he hadn't before, he imagined things that he hadn't before. He couldn't control what was coming over him at the sight of his wife wearing almost nothing.

Lara stepped forward, and took her husband by the hand. "Jor, you called me beautiful once before. What do you think now?"


	11. Chapter 11

Jor and Lara didn't really know what they were doing. Their actions were led by new physical feelings. Lara helped Jor take off his pants and shirt, leaving him in boxers and a tank top. Assuming it was the male equivalent to the lingerie set she was wearing. Just the sight of each other got their blood pumping in ways neither had anticipated. For the first time in their marriage, they touched each other.

Nothing too crazy, Jor put the palm of his hand on Lara's chest to feel her elevated heartbeat, and Lara did the same, and felt his. Jor could feel the goosebumps forming on Lara's soft and smooth skin, he didn't anticipate her flesh being so soft. In fact, he hadn't anticipated anything, it never even crossed his mind to touch Lara in such a intimate and personal way.

"This is forbidden." Jor couldn't help but say, despite keeping his hand on his wife's chest.

"We're no longer on Krypton." She reminded.

"What are we doing?"

"I am unsure." Lara thought about the things Kal and Diana did, and also Jonathan and Martha. Removing most of their clothes and touching each other was not one of them. But she enjoyed the feelings that were overcoming her body, so she didn't stop. "Stand closer to me."

Each moved their hands, and stepped forward until they were chest to chest. They stared deeply into each others eyes, but said nothing. Lara recalled earlier when she saw Kal and Diana touch each others lips, and that Diana indicated that this was something they did often. So she tried it.

Ignoring the unsanitary nature of what she was about to do, Lara rose up on her tip toes, and pressed her lips against Jors. Neither opened their mouth, or really even puckered up. It was the most awkward thing either one had ever experienced, but neither was frightened away by it. In fact when Lara rocked back to her heels she smiled.

Jor had never seen such an appealing thing before in his life than Lara's smile. No machine, equation or perfect ratio could compare to the sight of her before him. It affected him emotionally and of course physically.

Lara suddenly felt something poking at her stomach, stepping back and looking down she saw what it was. Jor looked too, and appeared to be both confused and mortified. He couldn't control what just happened, despite trying to do so.

Lara turned and slipped her clothes back on, Jor did the same. Without a word, each climbed into the bed and slept with their back to each other. It was a fascinating experience, and a pleasurable one, but neither had the slightest clue what they were doing, or what just happened.

* * *

Diana woke up at the crack of dawn and rolled out of bed. It had been several days since she'd even checked in with the Embassy, she didn't like to be this far behind if she didn't have to. So today she planned to go in, for a few hours to get herself caught up and update her schedule.

Looking at the clock, Diana saw that she had more than enough time to do her morning exercises. Reaching under the bed, Diana pulled out her over sized yoga mat and began her stretches. When she could, Diana always preferred to start her day by getting her muscles loose and limber, unfortunately when she began living with Clark and adding to her already crazy schedule she couldn't always do it.

Clark loved it when Diana did her morning stretches, and loved it even more on days like today when he was awake to see it. Mostly due to the fact that she didn't wear clothes while she stretched. She'd gone through most of her routine before he couldn't handle it anymore. She was in the reverse warrior pose when Clark threw the covers off.

"I wondered when you were going to get up. I've felt your eyes on me for a while now." Diana said, not breaking her stretch.

"What have I told you about doing that?" Clark warned, picking her up and pinning her body to his, making sure she could feel him.

Diana didn't back down at all, she was expecting and even counting on him to react like this. "You know you love it." She leaned up and accepted the kiss he gave her.

"You headed to the Embassy today?" He began stroking her back and hips.

"Yes. You planning on going into the Planet?"

"I'll check in for a little bit. Probably won't go the whole day."

"I bet you wish you could go the whole day." Diana's special emphasis told Clark she wasn't talking about his job.

"I'll settle for right now."

"Ok." Diana agreed, and jumped up to wrap her legs around him.

Sometimes Diana let things she couldn't control get to her too much. She let things worry her and stress her out. Clark was always good for helping her relieve stress, even when he's the cause of it (which he often was). Sometimes she needed someone to vent her anger to, whether that be physically or verbally or sometimes she just needed someone to make love to her, either way Clark was there, and today he was there for the latter.

As ironic as it may have been, this was just what Diana needed some hot love under the hot water of their shower. Of course she made sure there was no possibility of getting pregnant, but letting go of everything and giving in to the physical enjoyment she felt with Clark made everything feel right again. It served as a reminder that she was in control of her body and her decisions, and the one other person who mattered would support her in whatever choice she made. Diana could not imagine a time when she would ever stop loving Clark.

"So how long do you think you'll stay in the office?" Diana asked Clark, as she tied the front sash of her lavender colored dress with gold accents.

"Just a couple of hours, let folks know I'm still alive that sort of thing." Clark was buttoning up his shirt.

"What are you going to tell them?"

"A family thing. I'll be vague, they won't ask."

"What about Lois?" Diana knew that she would ask.

"I'll tell her the truth at some point."

Lois Lane was in on their secret, she was among the few who knew that Clark Kent and Diana Prince were really Superman and Wonder Woman. Over the last few years she'd become a reliable confidant and friend for them.

"What about you?" He asked.

Diana hooked her magic lasso to her waist, and went for her shoes. "I'll get updates on what's been going on since I've been gone and I'll start to reschedule the things that couldn't get done without me there."

"Ok, I'll probably go to the fortress to check on my parents when I get off work. Meet me there maybe?"

"Sure." Before she left Diana made sure to plant a big wet goodbye kiss on Clark. Just so she could remember a little bit of him the rest of the day. "I love you."

"And I you." Clark replied, before watching her depart.

* * *

"Smallville! You're back." Lois announced when she saw Clark approaching his desk.

"Uh, yeah." He wasn't expecting quite the reception.

"Good, it's boring around here without you. Remember when you were in school, and you friend didn't come that day, so you had to pay attention instead of clown around in class?"

"Sure."

"Well it's like that."

"Oh, well I'm not staying the whole day."

"So what kept you away? Something big? Or is it Diana, is she pregnant maybe? You did say it was a family thing."

"I'll tell you later, but no Diana is not pregnant, and when you see her don't mention that. She's particularly annoyed by that lately."

"Don't I know it. I can't even talk to my mom anymore, 'Lois you're 32 years old, when are you going to get married and give me some grandbabies, at this rate you're going to die and old maid.' It drive me nuts." Lois figured if it was a family thing, it had to do with Diana. Since if one of the Kents was sick he would've told her that. Maybe there was something goin on with Queen Hippolyta?

"Kent good to see you back. Everything alright?" Perry White came out of his office to greet Clark.

"It's a process sir." Clark answered cryptically.

"Alright, do what you have to do." Perry walked away.

Clark turned back to Lois. "Well, I'm here for a while. Anything you need help with?"

* * *

Schedules, schedules, schedules. Diana's time off threw everything off, it was no different than when she had to go off world, or deal with some kind of crisis but she still despised the aftermath. Which she'd been dealing with for several hours now.

Also the questions, "Where have you been the last several days? The Justice League hasn't been heard from since you've left." Julia, who served as Diana's assistant asked.

"I've been busy." Diana simply stated.

"Very well, anyway you've been asked to do several television appearances." Julia handed her the tablet with the information on it.

Diana looked over the requests, most were from local stations but there was one in particular from a big network. "The Cat Grant show. She's asking for Superman too?"

"Yes. In fact they don't want to do it unless he's with you. It's a big network, a great place to get exposure for some of your lesser known projects."

Diana took a deep breath. "I'll ask him, but TV isn't really his style."

"Of course." Julia knew Superman wasn't the type, even when he made public appearances, he typically stayed quiet and reserved. She always chalked it up to his alien nature.

"Why do they want us both anyway?"

"It's a fairly new show, I would imagine they want viewers. Besides you two are seen together romantically so rarely these days, maybe they're trying to spark up something new."

"Maybe."

Diana didn't know how to feel about Cat Grant, there were two sides to that coin. One was the fact that she and Clark Kent were friends, having worked together at the Daily Planet for several years. But the other was the fact that she was the one who spilled the beans to the world that Superman and Wonder Woman were dating. And she used that exposure to go from a gossip columnist to a late night talk show host. She would ask Clark, but really had no clue how he might react.

* * *

After putting a little time in at the Daily Planet, Clark made his way to the fortress to check on his parents. He found them in separate rooms, and there seemed to be tension in the air. What happened when he was gone? Lara had discovered Diana's training room and was practicing her martial arts technique, and Jor was sitting in front of a computer terminal.

"Is everything ok in here?" Clark asked, sitting down next to Jor.

"Everything is well." Jor couldn't bring himself to explain what happened between he and Lara earlier. He was both mortified and excited at what had occurred, and didn't want Kal knowing about it. But there was also something else. "I have found something."

"What?"

"Kelex has unlocked the files pertaining to the Kryptonians you had conflict with. Dru-Zod and Faora Hu-Ul." Jor explained.

Clark suddenly wished Diana was here with him, he wasn't sure how to react to hearing about Zod again. It felt like every time he heard the name he had to fight off a panic attack, Diana had been his rock. She took care of him when he needed it, but right now she was gone.

Jor had already gone over this with Lara earlier, but explained it to Kal. "They are ancient, born over a thousand years ago. They murdered thousands and overthrew the council, before attempting to establish law under their misguided interpretation of the Scrolls of Rao."

Clark knew the Scrolls of Rao to be the religious text of Krypton. He had gone over it several times finding that it held similarities to many of the religious texts on Earth. Zod had told him part of this, but left out some important facts."So they were imprisoned for murder?"

"Yes. But there is something else, perhaps even more troubling."

"What?" Clark wasn't sure if he could handle more.

"They changed Kryptonian society completely. After that passion, emotions were purged from our world, and replaced with logic. Science became our only law."

"That means Krypton used to be like Earth."

Jor didn't react to Clark's observation. "Everything was changed, laws regarding marriage, procreation, even our food. These elements, they are not natural." He pointed to an image on the screen. "I was taught that they were."

Clark looked closely at the screen, he wasn't nearly as versed in Kryptonian science as Jor was but he did know a few things, and quite a bit about Earth science. "I think it's a depressant."

"A depressant?"

"Yeah, they block your brain from being able to process certain feelings." Clark gave as basic an explanation as he could. And he kept reading the files. "They put in in everything, food, water, air."

"How could I not know this?" Jor couldn't help but ask himself.

"You just said how, they taught you wrong. You were deceived, purposely. They wanted to keep people like Zod out of society, so they found a way to control them. Wow." Clark wondered if that was what Lara was upset about too, because he could hear her pushing herself to her limits of strength. "How do you feel?"

"What do you mean?" Jor asked.

"Now you're starting to come off of it, are you feeling any effects?" He wondered if they might have become dependant on whatever sort of depressant they had been on. It was just now flushing out of their systems after over 20 years.

"No." Jor lied, he was certainly feeling the effects. Lara, particularly her body, was constantly on his mind now. He found he couldn't purge the thought of her from his mind, nor did he want to.

He wanted to find out what happened to him when he came into close proximity to her. And why it was Lara who made him react that way. Despite the embarrassment, he wanted to feel that way again. Kal could probably help, it was likely that he reacted the same way to Diana as Jor did to Lara, but he was almost afraid to ask. It felt like such a private and personal experience, he only wanted to share it with Lara.

* * *

Lara was exhausted, the floating training bots had given her an intense workout. She was now laying on the floor trying to catch her breath. She could tell she was already feeling the effects of the sun, she could jump higher, punch and kick harder and work out longer. She'd pushed herself to exhaustion like this before many times, but today it simply took longer. She didn't lose her breath as quickly, and her muscles didn't fatigue as quickly.

She heard someone open the door and walk in, she was expecting Jor so she turned over and stood up. But it was Diana, who had a somewhat amused look on her face.

"I missed your workout didn't I?" She asked.

"Yes."

"Oh, too bad. I would very much like to see about your martial arts technique. Some other time I guess." Diana shrugged. "So how is everything?"

"I am well, considering what I have learned."

"What did you learn?"

"That my life on Krypton wasn't what I believe it to be."

"What do you mean?"

"Kelex unlocked the encrypted files. We have learned what General Zod did to our society."

"Uh oh." Diana quickly left the room in search of Clark. Causing Lara to follow.

Diana found Clark sitting in a chair next to Jor. Both appeared to be deep in thought, and looked just alike. It was kind of funny to see them like that but she was more concerned with Clark's well being right now. The Zod ordeal tended to bring out painful memories for Clark, memories that she promised herself never to let him deal with alone.

For right now, Clark seemed fine. But Jor and Lara looked at each other awkwardly, then turned away from each other. Diana wondered what had gone on between them, she didn't miss Jor's eyes look Lara up and down before he turned away. Had they done something while they were alone?

But more importantly she wanted to figure out what happened with Zod. "What did you find?"

* * *

Later that night Diana laid in bed holding Clark close as he slept. Now knowing the full story of General Zod she desperately hoped Clark could have some closure. Maybe knowing the full story of just how twisted he was it wouldn't haunt him so much.

But also learning about how Krypton's society changed after that she wondered how Jor and Lara would handle it. In particular their reaction to coming off the depressants that had been forced upon them. If she had known about that she may have re thought pushing them towards romance. They likely would have figured it out on their own eventually, but now who knew how they might react now?

Love and lust makes one do silly things. Diana knew that well, she had more than her fair share of embarrassing moments involving Clark due to her attraction to him. Since she'd opened up this door for Jor and Lara she figured it was on her to help guide them. Still thinking it best to deal directly with Lara, Diana decided the best way to get her to open up was a bit of girl talk. And she knew just the place for that, so when the opportunity arose next, they were going to Themyscira.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning Clark awoke with Diana clinging tightly to him. Sometimes he cursed his heavy sleeping, because he didn't always notice what Diana did while he was unconscious. She had him locked down in a possessive full body hug as if she were trying to shield him from harm. It wasn't a bad thing to wake up every day with the most incredible woman who'd ever walked the earth, but he would have to wake her up to get away.

"Hey babe, you got me in a death grip here." Diana was strong even when she was unconscious. Her ankles were crossed behind him, so he had to reach down to unhook them. "How can you sleep like this?" He asked incredulously.

"What?" Diana asked groggily.

"I don't understand how you can get good rest with your arms and legs out like that."

"I can sleep however Clark, you know this." Diana let him go and rolled away from him.

"Yeah it's just… weird." Clark got up and pulled a fresh towel from the clean laundry basket and threw it over his shoulder.

"Hey, are you ok?" Diana asked sincerely.

"Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?"

"You didn't say much after last night." She had anticipated more of a reaction from him learning about General Zod's origins.

"What is there to say?"

"Well, if you need to talk I'm here for you."

"I know." Clark smiled.

"Your parents didn't take it as well." Diana got up and got her own towel, following Clark into the bathroom. "I think they may need to talk about it."

"Yeah I think they might." Clark placed his and Diana's towels on the vanity while she switched on the shower and stepped inside. Leaving space for Clark to join her.

"I was thinking I should take Lara to Themyscira, I think from there and from meeting my mother and sisters she might gain some perspective about living here now."

"That could work, as long as you don't show her the crazy side." Clark joked.

Diana didn't much appreciate his joke, and flung soap into his face as a show of her displeasure. "By the way we've been invited to do a segment on the Cat Grant show."

"Ok, what's that got to do with me?"

"We, as in you and I, as in both of us have been invited."

"Ok you've pulled me into your charity functions and stuff, and that's cool but Superman doesn't do tv. He prefers to keep interest in newspapers so that he can keep his job." Clark emphasized that last part, everyone knew newspapers were a dying industry.

"I know, I still think we should do it. We haven't addressed her making us a public spectacle."

"Does that even matter now? There are only like 10 people who still care that we're together." Clark argued. "All we do then is give them another chance to get in front of a mic."

Diana wasn't buying it. "Since when do you let people who oppose you stop you from doing anything?"

He wasn't letting anyone stop him from anything, he just didn't want to do it. "I'll consider it." He groaned.

* * *

Jor-El didn't even know what he was doing anymore. He was sitting in the workshop with a tool in his hand but he wasn't actually using it. He finished refining the motorcycle hours ago and wanted to move on to something else but he didn't know what else to do. Not only that, he couldn't concentrate anymore. All he could think about was Lara, each time he closed his eyes her barely covered form invaded his mind. He wanted nothing more than to be close to her, to run his hands across her smooth skin. He couldn't keep his eyes off her and didn't make any secrets about it. It's probably why she wasn't here with him, she'd become uncomfortable. In fact he wasn't sure where she was anymore.

Lara was in the kitchen testing out yet another of the stored food her son and his chosen woman kept here. She was eating from a jar that was labeled canned peaches. There was one thing about being on Earth, the food was incredible in comparison. Nothing on Krypton had any taste at all, and she'd recently discovered they were pumped full of drugs, designed to make her an obedient, unfeeling drone.

Now that those drugs were wearing off, she was beginning to discern it's effects. She was feeling new things seemingly every minute, and having thoughts she couldn't even have imagined before, now she was seriously considering them.

Jor in particular was on her mind, what occurred between them the other night hadn't been far from her thoughts. There was something both exhilarating and terrifying about being so close to him to touch him and let him touch her. Except she didn't really know what to do next. His body had an obvious physical reaction to her presence, hers did as well but it was much more subtle. In fact she doubted Jor even noticed.

She placed another peach in her mouth when she heard someone approaching. She turned to see Kal and Diana approaching. "Greetings Kal, Diana." She spoke after she swallowed.

"Good morning." Clark said brightly. "How are you?"

"I am well."

"Good to hear it, where's Jor?" Clark asked.

"In the workshop."

"I'll get him." Diana volunteered and headed off in that direction.

Once she was gone Lara turned to her son. "Kal, do you constantly stare at Diana?"

Clark was caught completely off guard by the question. "Uh… No? Why do you ask?"

"Jor cannot keep his eyes off me. Two evenings ago we removed most of our clothes…." Lara began to explain but Clark stopped her.

"Right uh… I can't even… Uh… Shoot…" Clark stammered nonsense for several seconds until Diana and Jor-El returned.

"Clark are you ok?" Diana asked, noticing he looked particularly flustered.

"I'm not sure I can answer that right now." Clark said incredulously. "Anyway we're splitting up into teams for the day. So Pop Pop you're with me." He began walking away.

"Pop Pop?" Jor questioned.

"That's you." Clark indicated, waving him to follow. "Come on."

"Does he always act like that?" Lara asked, whole Jor walked away with Kal.

Diana was befuddled by the entire exchange, she wondered what she had missed. "Um, not usually. He tends to get that way when there's something he doesn't want on the line."

"Oh, that seems as though it would be frustrating." Lara noted.

"Sometimes it's downright infuriating." Diana indicated. "Come on, we're going someplace special."

Diana was dressed in a pastel blue one shouldered Amazon made dress that fell just above her knees and brown sandals that laced up her calves. And in one of her hands she held another one in green, she held it out to Lara. "Put this on."

"What is it?" Lara asked, examining it.

"It's a dress similar to mine, where we are going we are required to dress this way." Diana pointed to Lara's full body jumpsuit, "That will not work at all, put this on without anything else underneath."

"Are you sure?" Lara was skeptical.

"Yes. We are going to my homeland to meet my family. Everyone wears clothes like this, even Clark. Plus it is very hot, and you haven't had time to develop your resistance to temperature quite yet. Please trust me."

"Very well."

A short time later after Lara managed to get the dress on and Diana helped her strap on her sandals, she led her to the transporter room. Where she programmed Kelex to open a portal to Themyscira. It worked differently than the traditional Kryptonian transporter, but not much. Once Kelex understood the plane of existence Themyscira resided in, it was no different than sending them to Smallville.

* * *

Upon arriving in the new place Lara immediately felt the sun against her. It was warm, but not at all unbearable. Perhaps because of the breeze coming in off the water behind her, she turned to marvel at the sight.

"Wow! I've never seen a land such as this."

"It's a beautiful place." Diana smiled. "I love being here."

Lara's senses were bombarded with all the new things that surrounded her. New smells and sights began to wash over her, but it was the sound that got her. She could hear all manner of things around her, trees swaying in the breeze, animals in the forest and countless numbers of voices speaking what sounded mostly like gibberish to her. It was all disorienting because she could not discern where much of it was coming from.

Diana noticed her discomfort. "Are you alright?"

"What am I hearing?"

Diana looked and listened, all she could hear was the ocean breeze, and a seagull above them. It wasn't lost on her what was happening though, "Try to relax. Focus on me, the sound of my voice, take everything else and push it aside."

Lara hated the feeling of not being in control, she'd spent years training her body to do exactly what she wanted. She had learned to master not only her muscles but her senses too, and right now it felt as if everything was going haywire at once.

"Ahh!" Lara screamed at the top of her lungs, and caused Diana to jump back. But after that everything cleared up. She simply needed to overtake the jumble of noises and focus on something she was in control of. Diana had helped, but she had it figured out now she hoped.

"Are you ok?" Diana asked.

"Yes. I am in control now." Lara spoke confidently, but in truth she only hoped she was in control.

"Good, come with me."

* * *

Martha stood in the barn staring at Clark, Jonathan and Jor-El skeptically, she wasn't sure how to handle looking at two identical motorcycles. "You're positive that he can't fall over?"

"It would take a force of… immense magnitude to knock it over." Jor assured.

"It works on the same principals that I do when I fly. It would take the same amount of force to knock this over as it would to knock me out of the sky, so I think turning a corner won't be a problem." Clark explained.

"It's not like I'm going to be flying across the freeway anyhow. I'm not _that_ crazy." Jonathan assured. But Martha looked skeptical still, she knew him too well not to be.

"He already owns this one, he might as well ride the safer one." Clark reasoned.

"And what happens with that one?" Martha pointed to the original bike.

"I'll take it. Me and Diana could use a ride anyway." Clark shrugged.

"You really built this in a day? Just by looking at it?" Jonathan was still stunned.

"Yes, it was simple. A rudimentary machine but fascinating, there was no transportation of this kind available for my use. Lara used something similar during her time in the military, it was she who helped me test it."

Martha noticed something, at the mere mention of his wife's name Jor's face lit up. It was a look she would recognize anywhere. Jonathan had it when they first started dating, and Clark had it when he first got together with Diana. He was in that 'new love' stage, where he couldn't get enough of his woman. It was a heavy contrast from when she'd met him before. At that point Jor and Lara barely acknowledged each other. Clearly something changed in the last couple of days.

* * *

It wasn't a long walk from the beach to the main city, but Diana took the chance to explain about the aspects of Amazon society that might be most jarring to Lara.

"So there are no men that live here?" Lara questioned.

"Correct. It is very rare that men are even allowed to visit, Clark is an exception. Although he's only barely tolerated."

"So, how do you procreate?"

"We don't. I am the only child who was ever born on this isle. My mother molded me from clay, and prayed for the gods to bless me with life, not only did they give me life but they imbued me with their power." Diana explained.

"That is how you can fly as Kal can?"

"Yes." Diana was waiting for Lara to ask for a more complicated explanation, but the questions never came.  
She seemed to accept it just like that. Then Diana remembered that Lara had a son who was born in a similar fashion. All it took was samples from both Jor and Lara and Kal was grown from there. Clearly her origins weren't much of a stretch for Lara to grasp.

The marketplace's main road was rather empty for this time of the day. Diana frowned and wondered what was going on. She walked over to a little pub like place where she found several patrons eating and drinking. She noticed Paula, a master stone carver leaning back in her chair sipping on a drink.

Paula noticed Diana and a much shorter woman she didn't recognize approach. "Princess, I am glad to see you well. Who is this?"

"This is my guest Lara. Why is the marketplace so empty, where is everyone?" Diana queried.

Paula laughed. "Your mother has discovered a new game, her and many others are participating in a tournament. Follow the road to the east you cannot miss them."

"Thank you Paula." Diana turned and left, with Lara following closely.

Diana and Lara walked briskly down the east road, and quickly saw what game Paula was referring to. Diana couldn't believe her eyes, this was probably the last thing she ever expected to see.

Lara cocked her head. "What game are they playing?"

"Basketball?" A perplexed Diana answered.

Last fall Hippolyta and Diana were honored guests at the WNBA Finals, Diana knew her mother had enjoyed the competition but didn't think she was able to follow the games very well. She also know that the winning team had been invited to stay on Themyscira for several days, Diana hadn't been there for that but clearly they'd left a mark.

Diana didn't know how to react to seeing her mother wearing a basketball jersey and shorts with a matching pair of Nikes. Seeing Hippolyta split two defenders, drive the lane and finish with a tomahawk dunk over the outstretched arms of Artemis almost made her faint.

Hippolyta just happened to look towards the sideline while heading back down the court to play defense when she spotted Diana. "Stop the game!"

"I believe the term is timeout my queen." Phillipus corrected.

"You cannot call timeout without possession of the ball!" Artemis shouted, still salty over getting dunked on by Hippolyta. Artemis was 6'6 while Hippolyta only reached 6'0 with shoes on.

"Diana has returned. Stop the game here, we will resume at a later time." Hippolyta commanded, heading towards Diana.

Lara could tell that the woman coming towards them was Diana's mother, they didn't only have similar facial features but they moved similarly. The speed and grace displayed by Hippolyta on the basketball court was the same as Diana with the football.

Hippolyta embraced her daughter happily. "My daughter! I am happy to see you. What brings you back home?" Then she caught a glimpse of the woman behind her. "Who is this?"

Diana disengaged her mother and answered. "The reason I have come, this is Lara."

Hippolyta cut Diana off before she could continue. "She looks like the Kryptonian."

"I am Kryptonian." Lara spoke for the first time, wondering how she knew that.

After Hippolyta stepped back in confusion Diana explained. "This is Clark's biological mother."

Hippolyta paused momentarily. "Did-did you not tell me his home planet was destroyed?"

"It was, my husband and I survived in the spacecraft that brought our son to Earth." Lara answered.

"You have a husband?" Hippolyta choked, then looked to Diana. "You did not bring him here did you?"

"No, he's with Clark."

"Good." It was bad enough that Diana demanded Clark be allowed on the isle at any time. At least there weren't two of them. She turned to Lara. "Lara, I am Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons, welcome to Themyscira."

Lara bowed her head slightly. "Thank you."

* * *

Clark and Jor-El had were now walking through downtown Metropolis, among the masses of people they would simply blend in. A woman passed them by and gave each of them an appreciative smile. Clark smiled back, without breaking stride but Jor didn't even pay attention to her. He was covering his ears, realizing that it didn't help to block out the sound.

Clark turned back, "Is it loud?"

"Yes. It's very disorienting, the voices, how can you not hear them?"

"I can't, I hear everything. But I can focus, only on what I want to hear. Listen to my voice. Can you hear me?"

"Yes." Jor looked like he was on the verge of a fit. People passed them and gave extra looks but didn't break their gait.

"Homeboy's about to lose it." A man passing by whispered to himself.

"He must be agoraphobic." A woman said to her friend next to her.

An older woman saw him from an outdoor cafe. "That's a good big brother, taking care of him like that."

Clark could hear some of the people's passing comments about he and Jor on the street. Most of them seemed to think Jor had some sort of anxiety disorder. He couldn't blame them, Jor did look like he was on the verge of a conniption.

Clark continued, trying his best to channel the patience of Jonathan and Martha. "Focus on the sound of my voice, only my voice. Nothing else matters. Your body is a machine, but it wasn't designed for this environment. Fix it, it takes concentration, fine tuning, experimentation. Relax and focus."

Jor put his hands to his sides, and took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself.

"You have to learn how to find peace amidst chaos. I did it, and you can too. You feel better?"

Jor nodded. "Yes."

"You want to leave? Or keep going?"

"Let's keep going." Jor wanted to get it right, he just had to listen to Kal. He had the answers.

* * *

On Themyscira, Diana walked with Lara and Hippolyta. Phillipus and Artemis followed closely behind, mostly interested in getting the basketball game going again. Lara did most of the talking, explaining how she came to be on earth. Diana, having known all of that was more focused on figuring out the details of the basketball tournament she'd interrupted. She would have to wait for that.

"So tell me Lara, what was your occupation on Krypton?"

"I was a commander in the Military."

"You were a warrior?" Hippolyta asked, now curious.

"In a manner of speaking. I never participated in any war, there were none in my lifetime."

"Then you're no warrior. I could beat you easily tiny woman." Artemis spoke up, not in a good mood right now.

Lara turned and faced the redhead that towered over her by a foot. "You may be large in stature, but I do not fear you."

Artemis was offended by the Lara's curt nature. "Is that a challenge alien? Or are you as weak as your spawn?"

"Artemis." Diana warned, she didn't want Lara on the battlefield yet, she didn't have any control yet. Her concern was that she might kill Artemis without intending to.

"You believe my son weak? How is this?" Lara questioned.

"He won't fight me, but will you?" Artemis stepped into Lara's space.

"Yes I will fight you." Lara said icily.

"Wait! Stop this!" Diana pleaded, but the damage was already done.


	13. Chapter 13

After an hour of sightseeing around Downtown Metropolis, Clark brought Jor back to his apartment. Jor walked around and examined the place, before sitting down on the couch.

"This is where you live?" Jor asked.

"Most of the time."

"And Diana lives here with you?"

"Yes."

"What about Kelex? Does it's systems run through these walls?"

"No. Diana and I live on the entire top floor, but below us are other apartments and other people. We share the building with them, Kelex wouldn't exactly be good for keeping a low profile."

"Perhaps not." Jor agreed. He recalled that Clark and Diana act like normal humans much of the time.

"So until the women get back it's just us guys. So uh, you want to eat something? Watch some sports?" Clark checked his watch, it was baseball season, but there wouldn't be a game on for at least another hour.

"What do you normally do when you have free time?" Jor asked.

"Free time? On those rare occasions I like to kick back and do nothing. Unless of course Diana's with me, in which case I'll do stuff with her."

"Such as?"

"Well, there are differences between men and women." Clark began to deflect a question that Jor didn't actually ask. "We enjoy different things it's not just me and Diana, there's a similar dynamic between any couple. She likes girly things like shopping and… shopping."

"Shopping?"

"Yeah, going out and searching for goods to potentially purchase." Clark explained. "Only she has a completely different way of doing it than I do. I like to walk into a place already knowing what I want, or at the very least having a good idea what I want. But Diana likes to look at every little detail of every single thing in the store before she can make a decision."

"Really?"

"Yeah, look at that pillow by your arm." Clark pointed to the throw pillow on the sofa Jor was sitting on. "It took her 3 hours to pick those out. 3 hours!"

"Hmm." Jor looked at the dark red pillow next to the brownish gold sofa.

"It took me 30 seconds, I saw that colors and said 'hey these go together, lets pick that.' but no she needs to consider all the possibilities."

"A hasty decision isn't always a correct one." Jor felt the fabrics of the furniture. "These materials have very different textures, the sofa is firm but the pillow is soft. Perhaps it wasn't only a matter of color contrast, but she wished to consider all aesthetic aspects of what would be brought into her home."

"Oh great, take her side." Clark groaned sarcastically.

"You sound like Lara." Jor smiled at the mention of her name again. "She is far more prone to quick and potentially uninformed decisions than I am. Perhaps it's our nature. I'm a scientist, I must carefully consider all aspects of my works, because one aspect of a thing always affects another. That was my teaching. Lara was taught to make decisions quickly and under pressure, with the intention of finding immediate results. I believe the Registry of Citizens brought us together to help each other find balance. Tell me Kal, are you always quick to decide?"

Clark thought about it. "No, not always. I can be patient when the situation calls for it."

"Then perhaps _you_ are that balance between myself and Lara."

* * *

The wheels turned quickly after Lara accepted Artemis' challenge. Word spread throughout the island quickly, that Artemis was fighting a Kryptonian. Most thought that Artemis was going to battle against Superman and came running to see it, but were confused that the Kryptonian was a woman, who happened to be Superman's mother.

It didn't matter now, they still wanted to witness it. Diana watched fearfully as the arena filled up, she didn't see how this could end well. Lara could very well win, and kill Artemis in the process. But then again Artemis wasn't a pushover, she was abnormally strong for a human, Diana always wondered if she had been blessed by the gods in some way herself.

"Why do you look so worried Diana?" Hippolyta approached, "If this woman is as powerful as your lover this will end quickly."

"That's what I'm afraid of, she could kill Artemis. She doesn't have Clark's control yet."

"And as I recall, Artemis defeated you once, before you had full control as well." Hippolyta recalled an incident when Diana was about 14.

"We should not allow this." Diana pleaded.

"It is done." Hippolyta said flatly, finding a seat in the arena.

Diana decided to stay down on the field level, just in case anything too crazy happened.

Artemis walked out onto the sand filled arena facing Lara. She stopped about 10 paces away and removed her robes. It was Amazon tradition to fight naked, but also she expected it would intimidate the Kryptonian. Superman seemed to be afraid of a woman's body, she often wondered if he was afraid of Diana as well.

Lara stepped back in complete shock when Artemis removed her clothes, leaving only her silver bracelets. She looked around and saw that Artemis wasn't the only one not fully clothed, many of the spectators were as well to some degree or another. Before today the only woman she'd ever seen like this was herself. It was jarring to say the least, but likely was the explanation for why Diana wore so few clothes so much of the time. She turned to Diana.

"It's tradition, but you don't have to." Diana confirmed.

Lara unhooked the straps of her sandals and removed them, but there was no way she was losing her tunic. Dismissing the strange sight before her she focused. She didn't believe this was a war, or a fight for blood, it was simply to determine who was the better fighter. Her opponent Artemis was overconfident in her abilities, which meant she could make mistakes, and Lara knew she would have to take advantage of each of them.

"Are you ready alien? Or are you as cowardly as your son?" Artemis teased.

Lara didn't say a word, she knew her opponent was trying to get into her head, make her angry and prone to mistake. It wouldn't work. She suspected Kal was the same nonviolent man that Jor was, that he would never prey on someone weaker than he for no reason. But based on what she'd learned about Kal he would defend himself and others if necessary. And he would defend them them fiercely, a trait inherited from herself. Lara got into her ready stance, totally different from anything Artemis or any of the Amazons had seen before.

Artemis made the first move, charging with a straight kick aimed at Lara's chest. But in a split second Lara ducked the blow, spun around and connected a roundhouse kick to Artemis' stomach, flipping her over frontwards and landing directly on her face.

Artemis rolled over stunned, and spit out a mouthful of sand. Her ears picked up a stunned crowd. She was one of the more fierce fighters on the island, only a handful had ever bested her in the arena. Artemis jumped to her feet and charged again, this time more controlled.

Lara ducked and dodged with incredibly agility. Diana studied her style, it wasn't like anything she'd seen before. She guessed that it was the Kryptonian martial art called Klukor_, _which Lara claimed to be an expert practitioner. The closest comparison to Klukor Diana could discern was Brazilian Capoeira, which was a fighting style under the veil of a dance. The jumps and flips were similar, but Klukor seemed less elegant and more precise, it other words it was more deadly. Diana feared for Artemis, simply because she had no clue just how strong Lara might be.

Artemis charged again, this time with a controlled combination of punches aimed at the head, but Lara used her momentum against her. She leaned back, onto her hands and flipped over backwards, angling slightly to cause Artemis to basically run by her, then pivoted and did a low backwards roll to create space and get back to her feet.

Diana watched the precision and coordination of Lara, and immediately wanted to learn Klukor. It so far was quite effective in confusing Artemis who was highly experienced on the battlefield, but also it looked cool.

Artemis stayed back this time, not showing her hand and deciding to let her opponent come to her. The alien was quick and very agile, so far she'd used angles and momentum to her advantage. Artemis was going to try to play her advantages, first of all her superior reach, but also her lack of clothes.

Stripping down wasn't just an intimidation tactic designed to throw off a non-Amazon, or a show of fearlessness to not wear protective armor. It also prevented her from being grabbed easily, as opposed to the loose tunic Lara wore.

It was Lara's turn to go on the offensive, she did a frontward flip extending her heel towards her opponent, but intended to miss. Worried about the missed kick, Artemis didn't see the setup. Crouching low, Lara did a leg whip at Artemis' knee causing her to jump and swing her legs out to avoid it. Lara sprang up and threw a quick of punches, aimed at the joints.

A blow to each shoulder and elbow had Artemis reeling. The Kryptonian was strong, showcasing more punching power than any Amazon. Only Diana could deliver a stronger blow, but still it didn't stop her. She pushed herself to her feet and backed up, still trying to get some hits in.

Lara came in again, this time flipping high, to swing towards her opponent's head but she lost control, and came in too high and fast. She jumped over Artemis' head, clearing the 6'6 Amazon by more than twice that height. Lara landed on her feet, but found herself off balance after jumping much higher than she intended. Artemis used her surprise and attacked.

Artemis charged with haymakers and wide kicks, Lara had to go back on the defensive and was getting pressed back more than she wanted to. She tried to flip away, but Artemis was ready this time. Once Lara's hand went to the ground to flip away, Artemis did a sliding kick at her wrist, causing Lara to lose balance.

Artemis grabbed the fabric of her dress and used it to body slam her to the ground. Before Lara could get up, Artemis pulled her up and lifted her above her head, and drove her down across her knee for a backbreaker. And she wasn't done there, Artemis jumped on top of her and began throwing repeated punches to her face.

It wasn't quite the tactic that Artemis had anticipated, while the punches were effectively disorienting Lara, it felt like she was punching steel. After just a few blows Artemis' hands ached, but if it meant victory she would endure a little pain.

Lara struggled to regain control, she was infuriated that she had lost it like that. The other woman was on top of her punching wildly across her face. It was an odd feeling, because the punches to her jaw didn't hurt at all. It was her eyes that were in pain, she began feeling an intense burning sensation in them.

Lara blamed her loss of balance on her loose clothing. On Krypton she wore form fitting battle armor, which was difficult to grab on to. She figured that Artemis' nudity had essentially the same effect. She tried to throw her off, but her sweaty arms were difficult to grab. Taking several more punches, Lara grabbed a handful of sand in an attempt to gain traction and yanked Artemis off by her arm.

When she got to her feet, her eyes were burning intensely. And the pain was very disorienting, far more so than the oversaturation of sounds filling her ears. Her vision blurred and everything became red hued. Artemis backed up with a frightened look on her face, she'd never seen this before.

Diana knew exactly what this was. She knew that it was against the rules to intervene during a fight, but if she didn't someone might be killed. The Amazons went full tilt during a fight, broken bones, torn ligaments and the like were common, but the purple ray couldn't heal death. Only Diana could stop what was happening.

Lara's heat vision was kicking in, her eyes glowed in her anger, and she kept them aimed at Artemis. Diana sprang into action before the intensely hot beams reached their target. Diana slammed into Artemis, sending her flying maybe 20 feet across the arena and landing in a heap. She turned towards Lara and crossed her cuffs before her, absorbing the energy.

Lara could see everything and finally found the strength to close her eyes and stop the flow of heat emanating from them. But it still burned like hell.

"Lara look at me!" Diana shouted. "Open your eyes, and keep looking directly at me!"

Diana was coming towards her with her arms in the ready position, preparing to deflect the onslaught of heat vision once again.

"It burns!" Lara complained.

"I know it hurts, but I need you to listen. Look at me, I can deflect it. You have to look at me! I'm the only one who can help you right now." Right now she desperately wished Clark were here, he could better help her than anyone, but that wasn't an option. Diana knew that Clark's heat vision first kicked in at a time when he was extremely angry. And that until he learned to control it on demand, he just had to let it flow until it dissipated.

"Lara you have to trust me. Just let it go, I can handle it." Diana pleaded.

Lara looked to the sound of her voice and opened her eyes. Hoping desperately she wasn't hurting the woman her son cared for so much.

* * *

Clark made a quick run to the grocery store to pick up a few things and had cooked up some hamburgers and french fries for he and Jor while they watched baseball on television. Clark tried to give Jor a basic rundown of the rules, but he was more impressed with the food.

Clark was finishing his fries when his phone rang, he dug it out of his pocket at saw that it was Bruce calling. "Hello?"

"You home?"

"Yeah?"

"There's something downstairs for you. You should go check it out, and be sure to keep your glasses on." Bruce told him, almost cryptically.

"Ok." Clark ended the call and stood up. "Stay here for a minute I'll be right back."

"I will."

Clark saw a little bit of commotion outside, but couldn't make much sense of it. All he could tell was that there were several people waiting for him. And they jumped excitedly when he walked out of the building.

"Clark Kent, congratulations you are our big winner!"

"I am?"

"You are the proud owner of this, brand new car!" The man turned and pointed to a brand new black Ford Taurus behind him.

"Oh alright." Clark was actually quite surprised, but when the man handed him two sets of keys (actually they were just the remote starters) he put two and two together and realized this as all orchestrated by Bruce. "Um, wow, I don't even know how to react.

Upstairs, Jor heard the transporter bring someone into another room of the apartment. He was concerned until he heard Lara's voice, then he suddenly became excited. He'd been waiting to see her all day. When he followed the sounds and finally saw her she was not in the best of moods.

"You were raised in that society?" Lara questioned.

"Yes. My life is here, and my love is here but Themyscira will always be home."

"I suppose."

"It isn't so bad, you've been invited back your fighting technique turned some heads. There are quite a few who wish to learn it. Including me."

"Klukor takes decades to master." Lara stated flatly.

"None of the women you met today has aged in thousands of years, nor will they age. They've got time. As do I, and probably you for that matter."

"Will I age while I'm here?" Lara wondered for the first time.

"I would imagine so, Clark did, but it's slowed as he's gotten older. Most people think he's younger than he is. He thinks he'll look like he does now for a very long time."

"Hello Lara." Jor entered the room, completely ignoring Diana.

"Hello Jor." Lara smiled, happy to see him after today's events. It was nice to see a man's face, particularly his.

"Where is Clark?" Diana asked to deaf ears. Jor and Lara were locked in on each other, neither of them even cared that she was in the room.

"Right here." Clark walked in, stepping right in between his parents, who looked almost like they wanted to jump each other, breaking their moment. "And you wouldn't believe what just happened."

"What?"

"Bruce bought us a car." He tossed Diana one of the remote starters.

"But why?"

"I don't know, and he didn't say. But I'm guessing it's his lame way of apologizing to us for how he reacted to these two crazy kids." Clark pointed to his parents.

"What kind of car?"

"Ford Taurus, it's pretty nice actually."

"How does it do on gas? That's expensive, especially considering we can both fly."

"Yeah I suppose. But enough about that, how was your day?"

"Um… Very, very interesting. My mother has taken up basketball, and yours almost melted Artemis."

Clark looked around in complete confusion. "I don't think I know how to react to either one of those statements."

* * *

A/N: If you're not familiar with Brazilian Capoeria, look it up on YouTube, it's incredible.


End file.
